Defensive linemen Jones, Weekley leave team

Orlando, Fla. ? Defensive linemen Chuck Jones and Monroe Weekley won’t be on the field today when Kansas University’s football team plays North Carolina State in the Tangerine Bowl.

They won’t even be on the sideline.

Jones and Weekley were left off KU’s 98-man travel squad and are no longer with the program. The departures mean that five members of last winter’s junior-college recruiting class are no longer with the program. Offensive linemen Johnny Urrutia and Richard Estrella and defensive back Markeith Childress were academic casualties in the preseason.

Jones and Weekley had been expected to bolster KU’s defensive line but were inconsistent. Jones struggled because of injuries and made only three starts. He did not play in five games, including the final four of the regular season. KU coach Mark Mangino had planned to move him to offensive line.

He finished with 23 tackles in seven games.

Weekley, who was dismissed from the team at Pittsburgh before transferring to Arizona Western, also was in Mangino’s doghouse and sat out the ninth and 10th games of the season before returning to the lineup as a backup late in the year. He made 18 tackles in 10 games, including two starts.

Mangino confirmed the players’ departure but declined further comment.