By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Levi Jones walked into Paul Brown Stadium on crutches Tuesday. He walked out under his own power after treatment.

On Wednesday, he was walking well and joked he might be running by Saturday and playing Sunday.

Still, the Bengals' starting left tackle was listed as doubtful on the official injury report.

"If there is any chance I can go, I will," Jones said Wednesday. He had arthroscopic surgery to repair a cartilage tear in his right knee Monday morning.

Scott Rehberg is expected to start at left tackle against the 49ers. The Bengals signed offensive lineman Alex Sulfsted as a free agent Tuesday, but Sulfsted said he didn't expect to play so quickly. Moving right tackle Willie Anderson to the left side also remains a possibility this week.

The other three players on the team's injury report are probable: running back Brandon Bennett (shoulder), cornerback Artrell Hawkins (knee) and linebacker Adrian Ross (neck).

OLD HOME WEEK: Dennis Erickson will see several familiar faces Sunday when his 49ers line up against the Bengals.

Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski worked as Erickson's offensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks and at three colleges.

As head coach at Oregon State for the previous four seasons, Erickson coached Bengals wide receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh and cornerbacks Dennis Weathersby and Terrell Roberts.

"He's doing a tremendous job with that offense," Erickson said of Bratkowski. "They've got a lot of weapons, and he's taking advantage of those weapons. They're scoring a lot of points (tied for 11th at 21.6 points a game).

"Bob's an outstanding football coach and, obviously in my opinion, will have a chance to be a head coach in this league."

The plum of Erickson's crop of players was Johnson.

"Chad's a tremendous-hearted guy," Erickson said. "He plays hard and he has fun playing the game."

Erickson is 6-7 in his first season as 49ers coach. He was 31-33 in four seasons in Seattle.

ERICKSON AND KITNA: Erickson coached the Seahawks from 1995-98, and in 1996 he signed Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna as a college free agent from Central Washington.

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in this league right now," Kitna said.

AWARD NOMINEES: Defensive tackle Glen Steele is the Bengals' nominee for the Ed Block Courage Award, a league-wide citation sponsored by team athletic trainers. . . . Tight end Tony Stewart, known among his teammates as "Mr. Community," is the team's nominee for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. Stewart's latest of many community projects is the Minorities in Mathematics, Science and Engineering at Hughes Center.

CONNECTIONS: Former Bengals offensive lineman Brock Gutierrez has played in 10 games for the 49ers, including one appearance with the offense. He has one kickoff return for 4 yards as a member of the special teams. . . . Former Moeller star Rob Murphy has played in two games for the 49ers. The guard-center signed Nov. 26.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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