The Nebraska Football team is reeling a bit with the news that star defender Chris Jones is likely out for the season. It was announced last week the corner had undergone knee surgery and that he likely would be out for at least four months. People familiar with this type of surgery have said the four months seems a bit optimistic and that six months is a more realistic time table. Chris Jones is saying nonsense to all of that, and claiming he thinks he'll be able to be back on the field before anyone thought he could be back.
Nebraska star shows optimism on social media
Jones took to his Twitter account shortly after the announcement of his injury was made, in order to show he still has hope 2017 is not lost. "All Ima say is watch me come back, I serve an on time God ain no 4 to 6 months." Clearly, the young Nebraska football star knows that it's unlikely he's going to be beating the odds by a great degree, but it is nice to see he wants to get back on the football field as soon as possible.
All Ima say is watch me come back, I serve an on time God ain no 4 to 6 months ✌🏾💪🏾💪🏾
— Chris Jones (@C_Jon8) July 15, 2017
The injury came at just about the worst time imaginable for someone who was looking to make a real splash in 2017.
Jones had been named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list just days before the injury was confirmed. He was someone that many scouts had been talking about as easily the best defensive back on the Huskers. Now he has to go back to the drawing board with an injury he wants no part of. It's not surprising he wants to make it back on the field and show what he can do long before 2018.
There is also, of course, the chance that he was looking to score a big NFL payday after this season. The odds had aligned for the Nebraska football star in that regard. With the talent coming in over the next few years, 2017 was the season he could stand out for Nebraska.
Bad news keeps coming for Nebraska football team
The injury to Jones was bad enough.
What's come after it is even worse. While most people thought the defense could whether the loss of the defensive back because of the young depth, the team is finding out the depth isn't going to be what they thought. Two 2017 freshman who were expected to be rising stars won't be making it to campus.
Defensive back Elijah Blades and defensive tackle Deiontae Watts have both been ruled academically ineligible to enroll at Nebraska this season. Both of the players were at positions of need and were expected to shine in the next few years. Now it's back to the drawing board for the Nebraska football coaches as well.