Peerman needs surgery on broken arm but could return

“But I think he’ll have to have it fixed,” Simmons said. “I don’t think it’s something as easy as it’s just going to heal on its own. He has to have it surgically addressed.”

Peerman suffered the injury in the second quarter of the 26-21 loss at Jacksonville on Sunday when Jaguars cornerback Davon House dragged him to the ground by his arm, which got pinned underneath Peerman’s body as he fell.

“It’s a huge loss,” Simmons said. “He’s a Pro Bowl player. He’s the quarterback in a lot of areas, so it’s a big loss for us. Playing these preseason games, that’s the part that sucks. It can happen at any time, I get that, but you just hate for one of your good players to get hurt like that.”

Peerman returned 11 kickoffs for 157 yards last season and has served as the personal protector for punter Kevin Huber for a number of years. But his biggest contribution has come on kickoff coverage, where he racked up the majority of team-high 17 special teams tackles in 2015.

“He has speed, and he has no fear,” Simmons said. “Ced does a fantastic job of studying, so he knows most of the time what’s going to happen before it ever happens. I think anytime as a player when you can anticipate and you can foresee the future and know what’s coming it makes your job that much easier and he can do it that much faster.”

More will be known about Peerman’s prognosis for return when the Bengals make their cuts to get to the 53-man roster limit Saturday. If the team thinks it’s a shorter term injury, they could elect to keep him on the 53 and make him inactive on gamedays until he’s ready to return.

If the injury is going to take longer to heal, the Bengals likely will place Peerman on Injured Reserve along with rookie cornerback William Jackson (torn pectoral muscle) and wait to see which player recovers faster and where the greater need is.

Teams can only bring back one player from IR, and the decision on whom it is doesn’t need to be made until the player is ready to resume practicing. The player cannot play in a game until a minimum of eight weeks after going on IR.