Bears' Jones out for season with ankle injury

The Bears announced on their website late Friday afternoon that backup running back Kevin Jones will be out for the season after suffering torn ligaments in his left ankle in Thursday night's preseason finale.

Jones is scheduled to undergo surgery early next week.

Jones carried the ball just 34 times last season for a 3.2-yard average, but he was re-signed in the off-season to a two-year contract for $3.5 million as the top backup to starter Matt Forte. Jones looked quicker and faster in training camp after recovering completely from knee surgery at the end of the 2007 season, while he was with the Lions. That injury hindered Jones last season, but he was hoping for a return to the form that allowed him to rush for 1,133 yards and average 4.7 yards per carry as a Lions rookie in 2004.

But Jones' preseason results were disappointing, even before Thursday night's injury that came on his seventh carry. On 24 preseason rushing attempts, Jones managed 77 yards for a 3.2-yard average, with a long gain of 9 yards. He carried seven times for 25 yards Thursday night, for a 3.6-yard average and picked up 6 yards on his final carry. But as he hurdled a tackler and went out of bounds, Jones landed awkwardly on his left foot and then was hit late by linebacker Marcus Benard, who drew a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.

He had X-rays at Soldier Field, which were negative, but a later MRI showed the ligament damage that will require surgery.

That leaves the Bears with veterans Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe as Forte's backups and probably put them in the market for another running back, even though Forte was a workhorse last year, rushing for 1,238 yards and catching a team-best 63 passes.