CINCINNATI – Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is confused by reports about his injury situation.

Higgins told ESPN on Thursday that the hamstring injury that kept him out of practice this week had nothing to do with his contract status. Higgins hasn’t practiced since suffering a hamstring injury in practice on Sept. 5, just days before the team’s season-opening loss to the New England Patriots.

But the fifth-year player made it clear that he wants to be on the field.

“I just don’t understand why the fans think I’m faking an injury when the deadline for a contract extension has passed,” Higgins told ESPN. “I just don’t understand why they think I’m faking an injury. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

Higgins has not trained for the second consecutive day during his recovery.

The deadline Higgins mentioned was July 15. That is the last day that teams and players on the franchise tag could sign a long-term contract. If no deal is reached by then, the two sides cannot negotiate until the end of the regular season.

Higgins has sought a contract extension in each of the past two offseasons. He had asked to be traded in March but signed the franchise tag on June 17, four days after the team’s mandatory minicamp ended. When the Bengals began training camp, he said he signed the tag at that time to focus on having the best season possible.

“I’m here, man,” Higgins said on July 24. “No ifs, ands or buts. I’m here and ready to work.”

Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Higgins suffered a hamstring strain on Sept. 5. Earlier that same day, before the injury report came out, Higgins said he felt “fantastic” and was “ready” for the coming year. But the injury was more serious than he thought, forcing him to sit out the opening game against the Patriots, a 16-10 home loss.

“I’m getting ready to go out here and dominate at the start of week one,” Higgins told ESPN on Thursday. “Unfortunately, four days before the game, I pulled a hamstring that I didn’t think was that bad, so I made the comments I made after practice.”

“I didn’t think it was bad until I had it checked the next day. It was worse than I thought.”

Bengals left back Cordell Volson had high praise for Higgins’ work ethic.

“The way he goes about his work and goes to work is really special,” Volson said. “And he’s a really special player.”

Earlier this week, Taylor said Higgins was being evaluated on a day-to-day basis and his status for Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs was still uncertain. Last season, Higgins missed three games with a hamstring injury and injured his other hamstring, forcing him to miss the season finale against the Cleveland Browns.

In his first four seasons, Higgins was one of the Bengals’ best offensive players. Between 2020 and 2022, he was one of 15 players to record 3,000 or more receiving yards, according to ESPN Research. Last season, the former Clemson star had 656 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 12 games.

On Thursday, Higgins told ESPN that he wants to be in top shape when he returns to best support Cincinnati’s offense.

“I want to go out there and give my teammates 100 percent Tee Higgins, you know what I mean?” Higgins told ESPN. “I don’t want to give them 50% and do half-measures just to be present on the field.”