"Cornerback Adam Jones lay on the right side of the end zone with the Cincinnati training staff looking over him.

He had just suffered a neck stinger during Falcons receiver Roddy White's two-point conversion play that put Atlanta up 32-25 early in the fourth quarter.

Jones' neck went numb, causing him to crash to the turf. It would be the end of the day for Jones, who earned his first start of the season in place of injured cornerback Johnathan Joseph.

On Cincinnati's ensuing possession, running back Cedric Benson coughed the ball up on the Atlanta 39 yard line and the Falcons recovered.

Cornerback Morgan Trent came in for Jones and was on the field when the Falcons sealed the game with running back Michael Turner's three-yard rushing touchdown with 4:33 left to play.

It wasn't the ideal homecoming for Jones, who grew up in Atlanta and played football at Westlake High School.

While his family was able to watch Jones play in the Georgia Dome, he was visibly upset in the visiting team's locker room after the Bengals fell 39-32 to Atlanta.

"It was cool, but it would have been better if we could have gotten a W," Jones said. "It happens sometimes."

Jones and the Cincinnati secondary had their hands full trying to defend Atlanta's passing attack, specifically with wide receiver Roddy White, who totaled 201 yards and two touchdowns.

Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan finished the day with 299 passing yards and three touchdowns.

"It's tough shoes to fill when you're coming in for Johnathan, he's done a lot of good things for us," cornerback Leon Hall said. "We all had a rough day. I don't know how (Jones) is now but I think he's going to be all right."

In one instance, Jones was tasting the success that comes with making a huge play to swing a team's momentum.

Cincinnati began the second half down 24-3 but scored 22 answered points to go up 25-24. The last six came from Jones when he stripped the ball free from Falcons receiver Roddy White and returned it 59 yards for the go-ahead score."