Updated: 5:35 p.m.
For the second straight season the Bengals have lost special teams ace Tab Perry for the year after he played in just two games.
The Bengals opted Tuesday to end the season of Perry, sidelined by complications of his 13-month-old hip injury, and another special teams standout, defensive back Ethan Kilmer, by putting them on injured reserve.
With Antonio Chatman looking to be sidelined for the Jets game with another hamstring injury, the Bengals were down to four healthy receivers before signing Courtney Roby, a third-round pick of the Titans in 2005.
Kilmer hasn't been healthy since the first week of training camp because of thigh and knee problems and the Bengals lost the gamble they made by keeping him on the active 53-man roster hoping he would be able to return after the bye week.
Perry's injury is particularly unsettling because it casts some doubt on his ability to get over the hip injury that also cut short his 2006 season. Perry's original injury was a hamstring in Cleveland Sept. 16, a day shy of the year anniversary of his season-ending injury against the Browns.
Perry's loss has devastated the Bengals in two huge areas. As a rookie in 2005 he emerged as a top special teams player when he set the club's single-season records for kick returns (64) and kick return yards (1,562).
Also during that season he proved to be a versatile performer who could do some blocking and running out of the backfield as well as some pass protecting on third down. Then this season's injury scuttled the team's plans to use him as the third receiver in place of Chris Henry, leaving it with the oft-injured Chatman.
With Chatman hurt again, the Bengals are left with Glenn Holt and Skyler Green and their combined career 11 NFL catches. The 6-0, 189-pound Roby had nearly double that for Tennessee during the past two seasons in 25 games with six starts for the Titans.
He had 23 catches for 317 yards and a touchdown, most of those coming in a rookie year he caught 21 balls for 289 yards. He also returned 22 kickoffs for a 22.5-yard average during that rookie year.
Roby, a cousin of late Dolphins punter Reggie Roby, played in four '07 preseason games for the Titans and had six catches for 65 yards before he was waived Sept. 1.
Roby had been seen as a lock to make the Tennessee roster before training camp, but third-round draft pick Paul Williams and fourth-round pick Chris Davis made it instead.
Roby, an Indianapolis product, is Indiana University's all-time leading receiver.
Kilmer had the second-most tackles on special teams last season as a rookie with 18, along with a fumble recovery. But he was best known for taking an interception 52 yards for a touchdown against the Saints on just the fourth defensive snap of his football life.
The Bengals had hoped to expand his role on defense from safety to also include cornerback, as well as continue his development as a special teams leader.
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DEATH IN FAMILY:** Sallie Miyawaki, wife of Bengals shareholder Dr. Edison Miyawaki, has died after a long illness. Along with her husband and son, she made several trips from her Honolulu home to games at Paul Brown Stadium as well as training camp at Georgetown College.
