Braham on field for Bengals practice

Interesting how the presence of one player can almost lift an entire team's spirit.

For the second day in a row, though he is officially out for the game Sunday at New Orleans, starting center Rich Braham was on the field participating in a limited way in practice. He was in his practice gear and carried his helmet in the early minutes.

Left tackle Levi Jones also was on the field and participating, too. He is listed as questionable as he continues to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery.

Right tackle Willie Anderson (shoulder) remains probable.

The Bengals will have an interesting decision to make when Jones and Braham are ready to return. If they are out of the playoff race, do they shelf Braham and let Eric Ghiaciuc -- who is in a groove now as the starting center -- continue to play? What about Andrew Whitworth, who is playing well at left tackle in place of Jones?

It's a good problem to have, one that coach Marvin Lewis said will be decided when Jones and Braham are ready.

The adage in football is a player does not lose his job because of injury. Another is a coach absolutely has to put the best players on the field every week who give the team the best chance of winning that day. There is no "building for the future," often done in September when a baseball team is out of contention.