BAD LUCK STRIKES ONCE MORE AS BENGALS' CARTER CROCKED AGAIN

Ki-Jana Carter has missed almost half of his NFL career since the Bengals selected him first overall in 1995. He says his latest injury won't keep him from playing this fall.

Carter, 26, suffered a partial dislocation of his right kneecap while working out near his home in Fort Lauderdale. He will have arthroscopic surgery next week.

'When I did it, I said, 'Oh man, not again',' Carter said. 'But I didn't feel the same pain as last year. Now, after getting it looked at, I know it's going to be okay.' Carter said he was doing jumping drills when his kneecap popped out and then popped back in place. He suffered a full dislocation of that kneecap in the third game last season.

'He has had one bad break after another, but he always handles them as well as anyone could,' said Bengals general manager Mike Brown. 'We hope he'll be back in time for training camp.' Bengals trainer Paul Sparling said the arthroscopic surgery was probably Carter's best chance for not losing another season.

'The procedure involves heat shrinkage of the connective tissue around the kneecap,' Sparling said. 'The goal is to shrink the connective tissue so the kneecap does not dislocate again.'