The Cincinnati Bengals will be without two key offensive starters Thursday night against the Ravens, as wide receiver Tee Higgins and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. are inactive.
Higgins will miss his third straight game as he deals with a quad injury. Higgins had nine catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns against the Ravens in Week 5.
His absence will put more pressure (and likely Ravens attention) on fellow Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who had 10 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns in their earlier meeting.
Without Brown (knee/fibula), the Bengals will likely have Cody Ford at left tackle. Brown's absence is good news for his former team, as the Ravens are looking to get more from their pass rush and Brown didn't allow a single pressure on 43 pass blocking reps in Week 5.
The Bengals will have defensive tackle B.J. Hill, who was questionable to play with a rib injury. That's a relief for Cincinnati's defense as it looks to slow down Baltimore's top-ranked rushing attack.
The Ravens' ground game will get even stronger with the return of Keaton Mitchell, who was moved up to the 53-man roster Thursday afternoon to join Derrick Henry and Justice Hill. It's Mitchell's first game since he suffered a knee injury last December.
Baltimore ruled out tight end Isaiah Likely (hamstring) and defensive end Brent Urban (concussion) on Wednesday. Here's the Ravens' full list of inactives:
- CB Jalyn Armour-Davis
- CB Tre'Davious White
- RB Rasheen Ali
- OLB Adisa Isaac
- C Nick Samac
- TE Isaiah Likely
- DE Brent Urban
White didn't have enough time to learn the defense and be ready to play after being traded for on Tuesday. Armour-Davis is dealing with a knee injury.
The Ravens released veteran pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who had 1.5 sacks this season, to make room for Mitchell. Outside linebacker David Ojabo is back in action after being a healthy scratch the past two weeks.
Veteran safety Eddie Jackson is also back in the lineup after being scratched last week, as the Ravens kept an extra defensive back up for the game. Nose tackle Josh Tupou and linebacker Kristian Welch were elevated from the practice squad.
