One of the bright spots in Sunday’s 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys was the special teams play of rookie Dan Herron.

Making his NFL debut after being promoted from the practice squad earlier in the week, Herron had a partially blocked punt and some solid blocks on the kickoff return unit.

“It means so much to me. It’s a dream come true,” Herron said. “I’ve been working very hard for that moment. Special teams is going to be where everything starts with me, so I just want to go out there and try to make an impact.”

The sixth-round pick out of Ohio State said he was never asked to block punts in college or high school, but it is something he took to quickly at the pro level. He nearly got to another one in the preseason against Atlanta.

“I guess it’s one of those things where they kind of just put me out there and I was pretty good at it,” he said. “I’m getting better at it. I’m working to get better at it. I’m having a lot of fun doing it.

“I just try to get off the ball as fast as I can, make a move and just get to the ball,” he added.

Herron led the Bengals with 25 carries in the preseason before being waived and later re-signed to the practice squad. The ankle injury Cedric Peerman suffered at San Diego opened the door for his promotion to the 53-man roster.

Herron did not play any offensive snaps Sunday, but he was in for 15 of the 27 plays on special teams.

Well traveled

If the Cincinnati Bengals can win their next two games at Philadelphia and at Pittsburgh, they would tie the franchise record of six road wins in a season.

The 2005 and 1981 teams also went 6-2 in road games. Both squads won division titles, with the ’81 team advancing all the way to Super Bowl XVI.

If the Bengals, who were 5-3 as visitors last year, win just one of their next two games they will have a winning road record in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1975 (5-2) and 1976 (4-3).

Since Marvin Lewis took over as head coach in 2003, the Bengals are 33-45 in road games, including the wildcard playoff loss at Houston last year.

Injury report

Defensive end Michael Johnson (toe), cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (head/illness), kicker Mike Nugent and running back Cedric Peerman (ankle) did not practice Tuesday.

When asked about their chances of playing Thursday in Philadelphia, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was non-committal.

“We’ll see,” Lewis said.

Kirkpatrick, Nugent and Peerman all missed Sunday’s game against Dallas. Johnson was injured on a second-quarter sack of Tony Romo. Johnson has never missed a game in four seasons, appearing in 61 in a row.

Linebackers Vontaze Burfict (shoulder), Rey Maualuga (shoulder/knee) and Dan Skuta (back) were limited Tuesday. Maualuga was listed with the shoulder on Monday. The knee was added to the report Tuesday.