While the Nebraska football team is having a nice run on the recruiting front, the summer has been a bit rough on current members. The latest blow came on Saturday when the Huskers announced defensive back Chris Jones had knee surgery that will keep him out of action for at least four months.

Nebraska football loses its top defensive back

If Nebraska is going to have a successful 2017 season, it's going to need the defense to step up. One of the leaders of the defense was expected to be Jones. The Huskers weren't the only ones expecting big things from Jones as he was getting plenty of national attention.

It was just yesterday that the Nebraska football star had been named to the Jim Thorpe award watch list. There was more than a little talk that Jones might be able to win the award.

If he had managed to stay healthy and take home the award, it would have been the first time a Nebraska player did so. Now, the real question is whether or not Jones will be able to suit up for the Huskers at all this season.

Nebraska announced Jones had just undergone knee surgery. The defensive back has a prognosis for return of 4-6 months. This means, barring a miracle comeback, the earliest Jones could return to action would be the middle of November. It seems more likely Jones is going to be sitting out the 2017 season entirely.

The injury is just the latest piece of bad news to his Nebraska in the last few weeks. The team announced former defensive coach Bob Elliott passed away just a week ago.

Nebraska football dealing with the passing of another team member

For the second straight season, the Nebraska football team will be entering the regular season dealing with the loss of a member of the program.

Last year it was punter Sam Fultz. This year it will be Elliott.

The team announced Elliott was stepping down from his coaching position earlier this summer because of health reasons. He was replaced on the staff by Scott Booker and was moved into an analyst position with the team.

It appears the health problems for the former assistant coach were more extreme than Elliott led some to believe.

Despite not yet having coached a game for the Huskers yet, reports indicate he was a popular figure on the sidelines and had already grown quite close to a number of players over spring practice.

The Huskers will now have to learn to deal with adversity yet again. The Nebraska football coaches will attempt to make sure the team can deal with the loss of a member of the program, as well as a loss to injury to a star defender.
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