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RALEIGH -- Much like the way he is when he's carrying a football, it's hard to knock Toney Baker down.

Though he's out again, after having surgery to remove loose cartilage from his right knee, Baker's still trying to look at the bright side of things.

"I think it's better to have more (cartilage) and have to trim some down than to not have enough," the junior running back from Jamestown said Saturday.

Given that the success of his initial surgery last fall was based on his body's ability to regrow cartilage, Baker has a point. Coach Tom O'Brien seconded that notion, declaring the procedure "a positive" for the former Ragsdale standout. Baker said he expects he can start running again in about two weeks.

Despite his positive outlook, Baker admitted "it was very frustrating" to have a setback at this time. He had started preseason practice feeling like he was almost back to being the old Toney Baker again.

"We were really supposed to go back in (to the knee) before camp, just to make sure everything was fine, but I was feeling so good that (the doctor) decided we really didn't need to go back in there," he said.

Early in practice, though, Baker sensed that something wasn't quite right. As it turned out, excess cartilage had broken loose and was catching on other things in his knee, causing Baker discomfort.

"Hopefully, I'll feel much better after this," he said.

Physically, at least two more weeks have been added to Baker's recovery. Mentally though, he's already in pretty good shape.

Contact Jim Young at 373-7016 or jim.young@news-record.com