Football - Offense Jones to Undergo Surgery

Left tackle Levi Jones was recently informed that he probably will require arthroscopic knee surgery, sidelining him for at least one month. The loss of Jones on the roster is another hard hit for the sputtering offense of the Bengals.

The left tackle injured his left knee during the first half of a 14-13 loss in Tampa, which stripped the luster off the defending AFC North champions. Center Rich Braham suffering a significant knee injury during the second game of the season the Bengals’ offense has not played to expectations according to the coach. With the loss of Levi Jones, Carson Palmer's blind side will remain without the protection for several weeks.

Rookie Andrew Whitworth is planned to replace Jones on the roster. Whitworth was a second-round pick and ended the game at left tackle. Cincinnati will also have second-year center Eric Ghiaciuc filling in for Braham, who will be sidelined for several more weeks.

The Bengals will have struggling month without Jones. Indeed the team will play in the next four coming weeks against Carolina, Atlanta, Baltimore and San Diego, which rank in the top spots of the NFL in terms of defense. All of the off-season arrests left the Bengals (3-2) with little margin for error.

In addition this loss, No. 2 receiver Chris Henry, who has been arrested four times since last December and has two criminal cases pending, will miss one more game as part of a two-game suspension for violating the league's conduct and substance abuse policies. Backup receiver Tab Perry is sidelined with a hip injury, and Kelley Washington left Sunday's game with a hamstring injury. It remains undetermined how long the player will be out.