By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kelley Washington will be at Bengals training camp this morning.

Glenn Rosenberg, agent for the rookie wide receiver, said Monday that Washington left the team in New Jersey to fly to Dallas, where he met with the surgeon who performed an operation on Washington's neck last year.

"Everything is fine. He'll be there for practice in the morning," Rosenberg said Monday.

The agent also said Washington had not seen his surgeon for a few months and wanted one more examination before playing in a game.

The Bengals excused Washington's absence. They had to, according to the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association.

Though the Bengals' medical staff had cleared Washington for full participation this season, a player has the right to a second medical opinion.

Washington saw Dr. Drew Dossett, a Dallas orthopedist who also has operated on former NFL players Daryl Johnston and Raghib Ismail.

Dossett performed a procedure Nov. 19 to fuse two vertebrae in Washington's spine. Washington's final collegiate season at Tennessee ended Oct. 12 at Georgia when he suffered a concussion. He fell awkwardly on the back of his neck.

Washington, the Bengals' last holdout, signed a three-year contract on Aug. 3. He practiced with the team all five days last week.

After Sunday's 28-13 preseason loss to the Jets at the Meadowlands, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis appeared to be irritated by Washington's absence, but would not go into any detail.

"We won't worry about one guy around this place," Lewis said.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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