"Just 10 days after he had surgery to remove a loose body from his shooting elbow, Hawks guard Joe Johnson was making jump shots today at Hawks practice.

Johnson took some midrange jump shots near the end of the team's practice. He said the first 10 attempts felt awkward because it had been so long since he got shots up.

"For the most part if was pain-free," he said. "But we are taking it one day at a time. I may have a little soreness tomorrow. We are trying to get it as strong as possible."

Johnson and the team said his activity today is not an indication that he will return sooner than the minimum four weeks announced when he had the procedure on Dec. 2. But coach Larry Drew took it as a sign that Johnson at least might be on the short end of the four to six week timetable.

"Heck yeah," he said. "It was good to see him out there. I don't know what the timetable is as far as his comeback. But I am very encouraged that he is able to be out there just to shoot. We will see how it goes as he continues his therapy."

Johnson has been durable during his career and is reluctant to sit out games due to injury. The team wasn't even aware of the seriousness of the elbow injury until the pain became too much for Johnson to ignore and he sought medical treatment.

But Johnson said sitting out might end up being the best thing for both him and the team in the long run. The Hawks have won five of seven games without Johnson, whose uncharacteristic shooting woes were in stark contrast to the accuracy of the rest of Atlanta's regulars."