T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who has caught a touchdown pass from Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco, mused the other day how current Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins must have smiles on their faces now that Flacco is their quarterback.

But how about Flacco? He must be absolutely giddy.

In his 17 previous seasons, Flacco has been with five wide receivers who had at least 73 catches. (If you said Kamar Allen was one of them, take a bow.)

In his 18^th season, Flacco joins Chase and Higgins with their combined seven seasons of at least 73 catches.

Chase and Higgins met the media Thursday at the end of Flacco: Day Three, and they're all in being teamed up with the veteran's big arm.

First, they had to believe it.

Higgins called Chase Tuesday to say he saw the trade on X. Chase said, 'You're B.S.ing.' An hour later, head coach Zac Taylor, who wasn't B.S.ing, called Chase with the news.

"I appreciate the organization trying to make this work. So we've got to make it work," Chase said. "They just see that we've got a chance. Defense is doing a good enough job to help us out. Ultimately, we've got to have plays in space. That's what they've seen. That's what they wanted to keep going. They've just given us an opportunity to make more of those plays happen."

Both Chase and Higgins referred to Flacco as "an all-time great."

"First time I've ever had a QB like this," said Chase of the 40-year-old Flacco. "He's still got an arm. I mean, he's still getting it out there. We're going to see more when game time comes. That's when you really get to see everything. But for right now, he's throwing pretty good balls, and they're not badly placed or anything like that."

In Chase, Flacco gets to throw to a guy who won the receiving triple crown last year. He has thrown to a triple crown winner before, but it was nine years after Steve Smith Sr. won it when Flacco threw him 79 balls for the 2014 Ravens.

"I knew him because he was on the team that had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed," Higgins said. "I was messing with some of the guys. I was like, 'Oh, he was in the league when we were getting in trouble for being outside with the streetlights on.'"

That's because Higgins was all of nine in Flacco's rookie year. But 17 years later, the grown-up Higgins is impressed.

"The first thing I noticed is he and the coaches were going through the coverages in walkthrough. He was just like, 'This and that and this and that,' and I was like, 'OK, yeah, he knows something. He knows what's going on. He's been here for a while.'

"He's loud. He commands the huddle really well … Yeah, he's getting the grasp of the plays really easily."

Chase had to laugh. Flacco was machine-gunning the play call, and he wasn't quite used to that. He says if Joe Burrow sees him needing a breather ("Want a minute?"), Burrow draws it out.

"Other than that," Chase said, "he was pretty smooth. He knows the ins and outs."

Chase not only likes how he throws the ball ("I don't think he threw it that hard"), but he also likes how Flacco carries himself. Playing at age 40 really impresses Chase. He says he won't because. "Those kids will be killing me."

"Unbelievable, if I'm being honest," Chase said. "A lot of people don't see themselves playing that long besides quarterbacks. But just watching him come in every day, he comes in every day, smiling, happy to be here. Loves talking to the guys. He's talking to everybody, to be honest, and that's good to see. You come in, he's regular. He's been in the league as long as he has, and he comes in just as normal as everybody else."

No Lambeau Leap of Faith

It's the first game for both Chase and Higgins at Green Bay's historic Lambeau Field, home of the Lambeau Leap, where the Packers' touchdown maker leaps into the stands to start the celebration.

Once Chase found out what the Packers faithful does to enemy leapers, he was out. He never watched the Packers much ("Drew Brees was my guy"), although he made sure he saw some games where Aaron Rodgers threw to Davante Adams.

"It doesn't sound (good)," Chase said of the Lambeau welcome. "By the sounds of it, I'm not jumping in there."

You won't see Higgins do it, either.

"I'm not going to mess with that tradition," Higgins said. "I'll do my own thing."

Slants and Screens

Chase, limited Wednesday for a rest, was full go Thursday …

Rookie left guard Dylan Fairchild (knee) didn't work again Thursday …

Defensive lineman Shemar Stewart (ankle) went limited for the second straight day …

Same with wide receiver Charlie Jones (Achilles) …

Tight end Drew Sample (ankle) was upgraded to limited Thursday …