Northwestern WR Christian Jones suffered a season-ending knee injury during practice. And RB Venric Mark is transferring. Tough day for NU.
— Tom Dienhart (@BTNTomDienhart) August 13, 2014
First the Wildcats lost their 2013 leader in receiving yardage, Christian Jones, to a season ending knee injury. Jones finished 2013 with 54 receptions for 668 yards and 4 TDs. With the Wildcats poised to throw the ball more this season, this could throw a major wrench in their plans.
Next it was announced that veteran RB Venric Mark would seek a transfer. Mark led the team in rushing in 2012 with 1,366 yards and 12 TDs but only played in three games in 2013 due to injuries. He applied for a waiver for an extra year of eligibility to play this season and it was granted but it was announced a few days ago that he would miss two games due to a suspension. After the suspension, Mark said he was “prepared to deal with the consequences” of his mistake. I guess he had a little bit of time to think about it and decided he had other ideas. Despite his injuries last season, Mark was going to be a major part of Northwestern’s plans in 2014.
The Wildcats have now lost two major cogs from their offense in one day as they try to rebound from a disappointing 5-7 season and Pat Fitzgerald’s job just got that much harder.
