Chipper Jones' left knee doesn't feel as good as it did when he was six months removed from having his torn left ACL surgically repaired at the age of 22. But, the Braves' third baseman still seems optimistic about being ready for the start of the regular season.

"It's not there yet," Jones said. "It's not ready or else I would be talking about playing games early in Spring Training. I've got to get it there. But I've got six or seven weeks to get it there. That's all I'm worried about."

When Jones tore his left ACL again in August, there was some uncertainty surrounding his future. As the knee continued to ache throughout November, the 38-year-old third baseman found himself wondering if he would ever play baseball again.But Jones has realized progress in the months that have followed and he successfully took another small step in his recovery process on Tuesday, when he managed to take batting practice outdoors and also field about 40 grounders without any noticeable discomfort.

This marked the first time he had attempted to field grounders since undergoing surgery.

"It felt good," Jones said. "It's like riding a bike. It's probably my longest layoff from playing for the last 20 years. The swing felt good. The ball was jumping off the bat. I took a few ground balls. I wasn't overextending myself. But it felt good.

Jones initially planned to stand in the batter's box for live batting practice against some Braves pitchers. But after taking a couple rounds of regular batting practice and fielding grounders that were basically hit right to him, he opted to wait at least one more day before seeing live pitching.

"The knee is not 100 percent," Jones said. "There's no way around that and I don't know when it's going to be. But if I'm 80-90 percent, I think I can still go out there and play a good third base and be effective at the plate."

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he understands the need to regularly monitor how Jones is feeling.

"Some days are better than other days with that knee," Gonzalez said. "It's a 38-year-old knee that has had a significant injury. Hopefully, there are more 'better' days than there are bad days."

Jones, who hit .265 before suffering the season-ending knee injury on Aug. 10, isn't currently planning on playing during the early portion of the Grapefruit League season. But he seems hopeful to begin testing himself in game situations by the time the exhibition schedule's second week arrives.