National Football League

Bengals' Marvin Jones fully recovered from ankle surgery

Published Apr. 20, 2015 4:58 p.m. ET

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CINCINNATI (AP) Receiver Marvin Jones was fully recovered from ankle surgery as the Cincinnati Bengals opened their offseason workouts on Monday, a huge boost for an offense that spent most of last season without some of its top pass catchers.

Jones said he still gets some soreness in his right ankle, but he's cleared to do everything without restriction. Jones has been running pass routes to get back into playing shape.

''No limitations,'' Jones said. ''It's just important for me to get out there and do everything consistently and stuff like that. I have been doing that working out, but it's different just being here, running routes every day.''

Jones, a fifth-round pick in 2012, developed into one of Cincinnati's most dangerous receivers a year later. He played in every game in the 2013 season, starting three of them, and had 10 touchdown catches while developing into the main complement to receiver A.J. Green.

He hurt his right ankle the following March, then broke his left foot during training camp. When that healed, he returned to practice and aggravated the right ankle injury. He had surgery to remove bone chips, ending a season in which he didn't even get on the field.

''I had (bone chips) flying around in there the whole time, for nine months,'' Jones said. ''This is the first time I feel great and I feel like I'm back to my old self.''

The Bengals reached the playoffs for the fourth straight season - and lost in the opening round for the fourth time - despite an offense that was middle-of-the-pack. The Bengals ranked 15th overall in yards and 21st in yards passing, a significant decline from the previous season.

Cincinnati finished 10th in total offense the previous season, including eighth in passing.

Tight end Tyler Eifert dislocated his right elbow during the season opener and missed the rest of the season. He also had surgery in December for a shoulder injury suffered during preseason. Eifert is expected back to start the season.

''It's good to have Marvin and Tyler and all these guys back,'' quarterback Andy Dalton said.

Green also was limited by injuries last season, contributing to the decline of the passing game. He missed three full games and parts of others with turf toe and sat out a playoff loss at Indianapolis because of a concussion. Green said the right big toe has fully healed with a few months of rest.

Green finished with 69 catches for 1,041 yards and a career-low six touchdowns.

''I'm coming off a disappointing season even though I had 1,000 yards, but my expectation is so high,'' Green said. ''So that's a disappointing season to me.

''I was not out there like I need to be. I was never 100 percent. I felt like I never played like I should have.''

Notes: Linebacker Vontaze Burfict hasn't been cleared medically to work out with the team. He's recovering from two operations to his left knee. Concussions and the knee problems limited Burfict to five starts and 29 tackles last season. Burfict is still rehabilitating the knee. It's unclear when he'll be able to work out fully. The Bengals signed free agent linebacker A.J. Hawk in the offseason, giving them another option.

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Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

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