CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins proclaimed himself 100% two days prior to making his season debut Monday night against the Washington Commanders.

And the Cincinnati coaching staff made a similar declaration by giving Higgins a full workload rather than easing him in coming off the hamstring injury he suffered a few days before the season opener.

Who Played the Most Offensive, Defensive Snaps for Bengals in Week 3?

With the exception of four offensive linemen and quarterback Joe Burrow, Higgins played the second-most offensive snaps for the Bengals.

Let’s take a position-by-position look at the snap counts from the 38-33 loss to the Commanders that dropped the Bengals to 0-3.

Wide Receiver

Ja’Marr Chase sat out only one play Wednesday night — the 2nd-and-1 play in the second quarter when rookie offensive tackle Amarius Mims jogged onto the field to make his NFL debut as part of a set with six offensive linemen.

Chase was out there for 59 of the other 60 snaps and had his best game of the young season with six catches on seven targets for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Higgins was right behind him with 54 snaps. He also left the field with Chase on Mims’ debut. Higgins only missed two snaps in the second half.

The battle for WR3 snaps was a no contest, with Andrei Iosivas logging 46 snaps (77%) while setting a career high with 52 receiving yards, tying his high with five receptions, and scoring another touchdown to move into a tie for the NFL lead.

Jermaine Burton had three snaps, and Charlie Jones two, while Trenton Irwin was inactive with Higgins’ return.

Higgins’ return showed up with more success in the intermediate range, with Burrow completing 8 of 10 passes that were more than 10 air yards from the line of scrimmage.

Running Back

Chase Brown rushed for a career-high 62 yards, but his snap share remained lopsided.

Zack Moss out-snapped Brown 46 to 14, continuing the split we saw in Weeks 1 and 2.

The bottom line is the Bengals trust Moss more in pass protection. He was on the field for all 10 third-down snaps, while Brown didn’t play a single one.

In three games, Brown has yet to see the field on third down, while Moss has been out there for 32 of 34.

Tight Ends

Mike Gesicki continued to outpace the group with 30 snaps, while Drew Sample logged 24, and rookie Erick All Jr. had 21.

Of Gesicki’s 30 snaps, 25 came when he was the only tight end on the field.

All was the only tight end on the field for 10 snaps in 11 personnel. Burrow dropped back to pass on eight of them.

Sample was the lone TE in 11 personnel eight times. Burrow dropped back to pass on six of those eight snaps.

All and Sample were on the field together in 12 personnel for 11 snaps. The Bengals ran the ball on six of them.

Offensive Line

Trent Brown played 24 snaps before suffering a season-ending patellar tendon injury in his right knee.

Mims played 37 snaps in his debut and received the team’s second-lowest offensive grade (47.7) from Pro Football Focus.

Personnel Groupings

11 (three WR, one TE, one RB): 43 snaps, 71.7%
12 (two WR, two TE, one RB): 15 snaps, 25%
10 (four WR, one RB, no TE): 1 snap

Based on what we’ve seen the first two weeks, this probably was not the plan to revert back to such heavy use of 11 personnel, but falling behind by 15 points will force a play-caller out of his plan pretty quickly.

But the return of Higgins and the growth of Iosivas likely will see the Bengals lean a little more into the amount of 11 personnel they used in the first two weeks (59.6%).

Defensive Tackles

This was always going to be the most important position group for Lou Anarumo’s defense with starters B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins sidelined with hamstring injuries.

Zach Carter led the way with 41 of 57 snaps, which was a huge ask. But it was a bell Carter has answered multiple times.

Since the start of the 2022 season, Carter has the four highest single-game snap percentages at 72.9 (at Pittsburgh Week 16, 2023), 72.9 (at Cleveland Week 8, 2022), 72.3 (Week 7, 2022 vs. Atlanta), and 70.7 (Monday night). Carter also had the No. 6 workload of 68.8 in Week 2 at Kansas City.

Jay Tufele got the start next to Carter and played 34 snaps, while rookie Kris Jenkins made his NFL debut with 23, and 34-year-old Lawrence Guy, who arrived as a street free agent Tuesday, played 16 snaps.

Defensive Ends

Trey Hendrickson pulled himself out of the game multiple times, including once when he took a knee on the sideline as trainers checked him out.

On the first play Hendrickson missed, Washington ran right at replacement Joseph Ossai for a 24-yard touchdown.

Hendrickson played 38 of 57 snaps, while Sam Hubbard led the group with 42.

Ossai and Hubbard led the team with three pressures, while Hendrickson, who had a league-high 12 coming into the game, had just two.

Rookie Cedric Johnson made his NFL debut, logging 10 snaps with two tackles.

Linebacker

Logan Wilson played all 57 snaps, and Germaine Pratt played 56.

Akeem Davis-Gaither played 11 snaps, 10 of which came in the middle two quarters. And Joe Bachie was in for one snap on the goal line.

Cornerbacks

Dax Hill and Cam Taylor-Britt each played 56 snaps, while slot corner Mike Hilton played 43.

DJ Turner II had one snap as a sixth defensive back, subbing in for Pratt on the one play he missed early in the fourth quarter.

Safeties

Vonn Bell played all 57 and Geno Stone had 56, coming off on a 2nd-and-goal play from the Cincinnati 1-yard line when offensive lineman Trent Scott caught a touchdown pass.

Maligned rookie Daijahn Anthony played one snap, the 3rd-and-4 play early in the fourth quarter when Turner logged his lone snap.