Jaguars vs. Bengals Thursday NFL injury report, odds: Tee Higgins, 3 other starters out for Cincinnati; Ja'Marr Chase now among Rookie of Year favorites

The Cincinnati Bengals are 7.5-point favorites – which is pretty rare for that franchise – for Thursday night's home game vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Bengals are expected to be without four starters, led by receiver Tee Higgins. It's the first meeting as professionals between quarterbacks and former No. 1 overall picks Joe Burrow of Cincinnati and Trevor Lawrence of Jacksonville. Click here for model pick of game.

As of this writing, about 75 percent of all spread action at Caesars is on the Bengals, who haven't been at least 7.5-point favorites since Nov. 26, 2017 at home vs. Cleveland. Cincinnati won that 30-16 and has won its past seven as at least 7.5-point favorites (5-2 against the spread). Overall, this snaps a streak of 16 straight games where the Bengals were underdogs.

It's possible that number gets down to 7 by kickoff once the sharps chime in and the Bengals for sure without Higgins and safety Jessie Bates and most likely sans cornerback Chidobe Awuize and guard Xavier Sua'Filo. Higgins also missed Cincinnati's upset win in Pittsburgh this past Sunday and has 10 catches for 118 yards and two TDs in his two games. Bates played every defensive snap in Pittsburgh but his streak of 51 games started since entering the league will end.

The big story line here is Lawrence vs. Burrow in what will be only the second-ever QB meeting between the two most recent first overall picks. In Week 15 of the 2019 season, Cleveland's Baker Mayfield (No. 1 overall in 2018) and Arizona's Kyler Murray (No. 1 in 2019) faced off.

Burrow's LSU Tigers beat Lawrence's Clemson Tigers 42-25 in the national championship game following the 2019 NCAA season. Burrow, the Heisman winner that year, threw for 463 yards and five scores while rushing for another TD. Wideout Ja'Marr Chase caught 10 passes for 221 yards and two scores.

Chase has skyrocketed into the second-favored role as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at +450 behind Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (+400). Remember when Chase kept dropping passes in camp and the preseason? That guy is gone now. Chase is second in the NFL with four receiving TDs and is the ninth rookie in NFL history to catch a TD in each of his first three career games, and the third to catch TDs of at least 25 yards in his first three games.

Jacksonville appears in pretty good shape injury-wise but did trade starting cornerback CJ Henderson to Carolina on Monday for tight end Dan Arnold and a draft pick. Arnold is expected to debut Thursday. Kicker Josh Lambo isn't injured but will not play as he is 0-3 on field goals and 5-for-7 on extra points. Matthew Wright was signed to the practice squad Monday and will be promoted to the active roster and kick against the Bengals.

The Jags have lost 18 straight games – a 19th would tie for the second-longest in league history. The team also has allowed at least 23 points in 18 straight games, the second-longest such streak ever. Lawrence is tied with Zach Wilson for the NFL lead with seven picks and is completing an NFL-worst 54 percent of his throws. Lawrence is now +1000 to win Offensive Rookie of the Year after opening the season as the favorite. 

Who wins every NFL game? And which teams will sink your bankroll? Join SportsLine now to get NFL picks every week, all from the model that simulates every game 10,000 times and is up almost $8,000.