Tee Higgins describes Bengals' mindset after missing playoffs for third straight season

"I definitely think it will be more on the hyper-focused side than, you know, p----- off," Higgins told the Cincy Jungle's "Orange and Black Insider" Bengals podcast. "Obviously, we're pretty upset we haven't made the playoffs in a long time, but I think it's more hyper-focused because most of the guys on the offensive side of the ball are coming back ... So, obviously we need to lock back in and keep doing what we've been doing the past three years, and just putting it together as a whole, as a team. Just like how if you've got special teams, offense and defense working together -- you need all of that. … As long as we do that, I feel like we'll be OK and make that run late in the season."

Joe Burrow's health, defensive improvement will determine if Bengals make playoffs next season

Higgins, who tallied 846 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns, and the offense (17th, 329.2 yards) weren’t the problem for the Bengals. However, Burrow was not healthy for a bulk of the season — career-low eight games played — and had one of the worst defenses in the league (31st, 380.9 yards), which was the reason for the extended playoff drought. 

Burrow appeared in the first two games of the Bengals season before suffering a toe injury, which kept him out until their Thanksgiving night matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.

When healthy, Burrow is a top-five quarterback and can single-handedly help lead the Bengals to a Super Bowl, which he did in 2021 when he threw for his first 4,000+ yard season (4,611) as well as 34 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Keeping Burrow healthy is key for the Bengals to be successful and to overcome a weak defense, which was also one of the worst at sacking the quarterback (35.0 sacks).

Drafting or adding another edge-rusher to pair with Trey Hendrickson could help. Adding a defensive tackle to clog up the middle could also help solidify things on defense.