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Levi Jones' knee still a problem
Friday, July 27, 2007
GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Levi Jones wishes his left knee was as strong as his muscle car — the silver and gold Ford Excursion sport utility vehicle he drove to training camp.
The Bengals' left offensive tackle is charged with protecting quarterback Carson Palmer's blind side. But right now, Jones wants to protect his health.
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Jones won't practice today as he continues to rehab a left knee that's undergone two arthroscopic surgeries since October.
How much work he'll be able to do at camp is questionable. His goal? Be ready for the Sept. 10 opener at home against Baltimore.
"I said back in April that I wasn't worried about it and I was feeling good, but things changed," Jones said. "I got on a different (rehab) program and it didn't go as well as it went before, when I was optimistic.
"I'm about where I was (in April). Hopefully, I can get everything right and be ready for the opener — be ready to play and, hopefully, healthy enough to play well."
Jones called his issue "a pain management thing. When I got here (in April), their focus was just to get it strong and basically overlook all the pain issues I was having that just caused muscle groups to start shutting down one by one."
After the Bengals' offseason program ended in mid-June, Jones returned to Arizona.
"Out in Arizona, (medical personnel) focused on a whole realm of things — all the contributing factors," Jones said. "Strength would be the last thing they focus on because it really don't matter if it's strong if you've got too much pain to put pressure on it. When you have pain where I have it, it just causes muscle groups to shut down.
"I just have to sit down with our medical staff and find out what we're going to do. Hopefully, we can come to some agreement or get something done that is a lot better than what I went through the last three months here. Everybody has their way of doing things. I'm not saying (the Bengals') way is wrong. It just didn't work for me."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com.
