ATLANTA -- The Braves were able to win a game that Johan Santana started without Chipper Jones in their lineup last week. When they are tested by Roy Halladay during Friday night's series opener against the Blue Jays, they might once again have to battle an ace without the presence of their veteran third baseman.

After Thursday night's 9-0 loss to the Rockies at Turner Field, Jones was walking with a noticeable limp that was a product of the misstep that he took while attempting to beat out a sixth-inning grounder. The 37-year-old veteran believes that he aggravated one of the bunions that caused him regular foot discomfort during the 2004 and '05 seasons.

"I just ran down there like normal, and I guess just short-stepped the bag and just caught it perfect, and it snapped," Jones said. "It's almost like you come down wrong on your ankle, and you hear that pop, and you know that you're going to have a blown-up ankle for a week."

Jones doesn't know how much time he might miss with this ailment that is affecting his right foot.

But he said that he wasn't worried about the possibility that he's suffered an injury similar to the one that sidelined him for six weeks during the 2005 season. That ailment, which followed spurts of discomfort caused by the bunions, was diagnosed as a torn ligament in the second toe of his left foot.

"A lot is going to depend on how I feel tomorrow," Jones said. "I've got swelling on the joint already. We'll just wait to see. It was hurting playing defense the next inning. We'll just have to see how we wake up. I don't know what you can do for it."

After running out the grounder, Jones limped back toward the dugout and then limped onto the field to play defense during the seventh inning. But he exited the blowout when the discomfort didn't subside one inning later.