Bengals head coach Zac Taylor didn't make it definitive Monday, but he anticipates quarterback Joe Burrow making the start Thanksgiving Night (8:20-Cincinnati’s Channel 5) in Baltimore.

With the Bengals looking at one practice this week on Tuesday, Taylor held off on making the call final.

"I anticipate him playing, but we'll continue to work through the week. I'm not going to declare that definitively," Taylor said. "Coming off an injury, he's done everything he could. He put himself in position to do his best to play (last Sunday). We'll continue with that mindset. He looks like he's in good shape right now and he can be ready to go."

The game against the 6-5 Ravens comes 75 days after Burrow left the Paycor Stadium field with a big toe injury that required surgery. He returned to practice two weeks ago and went full two days last week with rave reviews from coaches and teammates.

"It will be crazy. Everyone is making it seem like it's going to be this big Dark Knight rises or returns or something like that," said running back Chase Brown Monday. "I'm excited for him to get football back. He loves football and to take it away from him for however long it's been, that's hard."

Taylor isn't predicting a Hollywood blockbuster. He's not predicting anything.

"Difficult to predict. It has been several months," said Taylor when asked what a Burrow return might look like. "He's put himself in great shape. It's good to see him through the progression that we've had over the last several weeks. I think it was a fair progression for him to do the 7-on-7, do the 11-on-11, get your mind right, try to get ready to play in a game. And then ultimately, we'll wait and see where it lands.

"But I think it's been a really good progression. It's been helpful for him. He's done everything he can and we can to get him ready to go play in a game."

Injury Update

The short week has left Cincinnati short-handed. Taylor ruled out for the Ravens wide receiver Tee Higgins (concussion), defensive end Trey Hendrickson (hip/pelvis) and running back Tahj Brooks (concussion). Defensive end Cam Sample (oblique) and running back Samaje Perine (ankle) missed last Sunday are iffy.

It's the first game Higgins has missed this season in the wake of committing his offseason to fine-tuning his body after he missed five games last season. The Bengals went 1-4, including the 35-34 loss in Baltimore.

That's the game All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase racked up a career-high 264 yards, and he was back in the building Monday after serving a one-game suspension for his altercation with Steelers safety Jalen Ramsey.

Set In Stone

Bengals safety Geno Stone, among the league leaders in missed tackles, says defensive coordinator Al Golden sat down with him last week to talk about "space tackling." Golden said he had to get closer to the ball-carrier to make sure tackles. There was no surer bet against the Patriots. According to Pro Football Focus, Stone had 13 tackles and no misses and the Bengals had only six misses all day.

"Our best tackling game both collectively and individually," Golden said Monday.

Stone said Golden talked about Falcons safety Jessie Bates III, a guy that Golden saw every day in 2020 and 2021 when he was the Bengals linebackers coach.

"Al said when Jessie was here, he needed to close distance, and if you watch him now, you can see where his game is," Stone said. "I want to hold myself to a higher standard."

Besides working on space tackling in team and individual drills last week, Stone hooked up with safety Jordan Battle during breaks in practice and started from 20 yards away working on closing space.

"To be at the stage of his career and to just go back in the lab and go to work and improve on his tackling the way he has … it showed up. He fit the run really well," Golden said. "I thought he made a big step forward. And there are so many things that Geno does well. Middle, field, half field, quarters, communication, problem solving, you fit in the run, all those things.

"He really spent last week working on the one thing that was kind of holding him back. That's a craft now that either you continue to cultivate it and improve it, or it bites you."

Chase Brown Slow Plays It

Chase Brown is engineering the most efficient run game in the seven seasons of the Zac Taylor era. The Bengals are smack in the middle of the league at 4.4 yards per carry, their best since they finished 2018 at 4.7. Brown is at 4.3, but 6.0 in the last five.

Brown first salutes his offensive line. "They've opened up a ton," and points to the duo blocking coordinated by center Ted Karras. Then, he says he's slowed down his tempo. He's trying to make defensive linemen "antsy," while he's being more and more patient.

"They like to two-gap, and when they jump one way, you can read it and go the other way," said Brown, coming off a 107-yard game and an NFL-best five straight 100-yard scrimmage games.

"What I mean by tempo is slowing it down, finding a rhythm. It allows me to find the running lanes and create explosive plays, just waiting for those blocks to develop."

Slants and Screens

Golden is sold on his guys after Sunday's massive work on the goal line.

"I think (the Pats) had 12 plays inside the five," Golden said of keeping New England out of the end zone. "There's no bigger indication of the culture and what's inside them then to sit there for nine straight plays and battle the way they did.

"What gets you up early and gets you in here after you go through from a gut-wrenching standpoint, is just watching those guys fight for nine straight plays on the five-yard line. I don't know if I'll see another one. That was unique, and it revealed who they are. And we can build on that." …

Golden also revealed the leaders he has in mind at every level.

"We're getting great leadership from all three levels. (Defensive linemen Joseph Ossai and B.J. Hill), level one. Obviously Barrett (Carter) and O.B. (Oren Burks) at level two (linebacker), and then the safeties (Stone and Battle and Drago (DJ Turner II at level three (secondary). So the leaders have stepped up." …

Taylor said wide receiver Andrei Iosivas (shoulder) should be good to go after going back in the game late with a stinger after missing just a few plays …