Bengals vs. Texans Inactives: Ja’Marr Chase is active

The Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans are suiting up for their game today. There are sure to be some serious fireworks between these teams led by quarterbacks Joe Burrow and CJ Stroud.

However, it appears each side will be down some key weapons today. Here are the team’s inactives.

Bengals inactives

• Tee Higgins, wide receiver
• Jackson Carman, offensive lineman
• Trey Hill, offensive lineman
• Sam Hubbard, defensive end
• Josh Tupou, defensive tackle
• Devin Harper, linebacker

We all knew Higgins wasn’t going to be able to go today. It doesn’t help Cincinnati has a quick turnaround to play the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football. Higgins probably won’t be able to go for that game, either.

We should see a steady dose of wide receivers Trenton Irwin and rookie Andre Iosivas, along with tight ends Irv Smith Jr. and Tanner Hudson, filling in for the missing spot among the top three receivers.

It is also worth noting that rookie wide receiver Charlie Jones was not activated off injured reserve despite missing the mandatory four games with his thumb injury. The Bengals did call up wide receivers Stanley Morgan and Shedrick Jackson from the practice squad for the game.

That also means Ja’Marr Chase is active for the game with his back injury. It has been said that it appears to be a pain tolerance issue for Chase, so there is no guarantee that he’ll be as effective or even be able to finish the game. Burrow will at least have one of his go-to guys for this one, though.

Texans inactives

• Nico Collins, wide receiver
• Dameon Pierce, running back
• Henry To’oTo’o, linebacker
• Andrew Beck, fullback
• Jimmie Ward, safety
• Brevin Jordan, tight end
• Jack Hansen, linebacker

The big headlines here are Collins and Pierce being out for the offense, but last week Stroud was still able to light things up. He has found a nice rhythm with most of the receivers near the top of the depth chart.

Ward and To’oTo’o are pretty big deals for the Texans defense. To’oTo’o accounts for 395 snaps (just under 73 percent) for the defense, and Ward isn’t too far behind, playing 370 snaps (just over 69 percent). These guys have been around most of the year, so their backups will have big shoes to fill.

The big thing, though, is not seeing cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. on the list. He is making his first appearance since going on injured reserve earlier in the season. He is an old teammate of Chase and Burrow from back at LSU, so that is a matchup he probably won’t shy away from today.