KU hopes tackle Jones gets healthy

Junior-college transfer suffered early injury

Chuck Jones is feeling less pain these days, and that may be just what the doctor ordered for Kansas University’s beleaguered football defense.

Jones is a 6-foot-4, 275-pound tackle who was brought in from a California junior college with the specific purpose of improving the Jayhawks’ inner bulwark.

Unfortunately, Jones was injured in the season opener against Northwestern.

“It was on the first play of the second half,” Jones said. “I don’t know how it happened. You can’t tell on the tape. It was devastating because I’d never been injured before.”

Team policy prevents Jones from revealing specifics of the injury, but he has been limping ever since, even though he has played in the last three games.

“Against Colorado I was about there,” Jones said. “It was a lot better than the Missouri game. But as of right now I’m ready to go.”

That’s good news for Kansas defensive coordinator Bill Young, whose platoon surrendered nearly 600 yards to Colorado last week. Informed that Jones was feeling 100 percent, Young smiled and said: “That would be a huge bonus.”

While recovering from the injury, Jones has been part of a defensive line rotation system. Seniors Cory Kipp and Sid Bachmann — like Jones former California juco players — usually start at tackle, then are spelled by Jones and sophomore Tim Allen.

“We do it about every four or five snaps,” Young said. “We use different players depending on the situations. You try to match up with the other team’s personnel, and some are better at some things than they are at others.”

¢<i>” border=”0″/> 6Sports video: Team comes together for wins this season</a><span class=¢</i>” border=”0″/> 6Sports video: Doctors give Toomey ‘ok’ for Saturday</a></td> </tr> </table> </div> </div> <p>Another reason for rotating is to keep the big linemen fresh. At Colorado, according to Kipp, breathers were mandatory.</p> <p>“We did a lot of that because of the altitude,” said Kipp, a 6-4, 280-pounder. “I thought it was hard to breathe. Wyoming I didn’t think was that bad.”</p> <p>That’s curious because Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium is the highest in the country at more than 7,000 feet while Colorado’s Folsom Field is about 1,500 feet lower. Kansas spilled Wyoming, 42-35, last month in Laramie, Wyo.</p> <p>“Then I don’t know what it was,” Kipp said, adding with a smile: “Maybe it was the orange juice I drank that day.”</p> <p>Young also flip-flops ends Monroe Weekley and Reggie Curry on one side while David McMillan, the other end, is the only fixture on the d-line.</p> <p>“He’s really outstanding,” Young said of McMillan, a 6-3, 240-pound junior from Killeen, Texas, who has scored two touchdowns this season. “It’s hard to take him out.”</p> <p>Young, it goes without saying, would love to be in a position where it would be difficult to take Jones out, too.</p> <p>Meanwhile, as Jones continues to improve physically, he remains upbeat. Jones can recount some scary tales from his days in inner-city Los Angeles. His left arm, for example, contains ugly scars on the wrist and triceps, graphic reminders of a fist fight that escalated into a knife brawl when he was in the 10th grade. So serious were the injuries that Jones, a natural left-hander, had to learn to do many things right-handed.</p> <p>Jones eventually escaped from L.A., and vows he never wants to experience that dangerous atmosphere again. That’s one reason he opted for Kansas University after giving an early commitment to UNLV out of Pasadena City College.</p> <p>“I could’ve gone to Vegas, but Vegas is L.A. with lights,” Jones said. “I came to Lawrence and people weren’t hanging out on the streets.”</p> <p>Jones says he had never been anywhere except Los Angeles or Las Vegas until he made that recruiting trip to Lawrence.</p> <p>“This is my first time ever being in the middle of nowhere, but I’m loving it,” he said. “It’s kind of a culture shock, but I love Lawrence.”</p> <p>With Jones healthy, the Jayhawks could take a step toward overcoming the shock of last Saturday’s dismal defensive outing against the Golden Buffaloes. Young has his fingers crossed that the Jayhawks bottomed out in Boulder.</p> <p>“I hope it was the low point because that’s the worst we’ve played all year,” Young said. “It was very disappointing, but the good thing is it wasn’t the last game of the season.”</p> <p>So the emphasis in practice this week has been on live tackling fundamentals — striking a blow, then wrapping up.</p> <p>“We’re not a great tackling team,” Young said. “Some of that has to do with ability, but there’s no excuse for not making tackles.”</p> <script type=