Christian Jones out for the season

Senior Christian Jones, Northwestern's top wide receiver, will miss the entire 2014 after suffering a knee injury in practice Wednesday, the program announced. According to the release, Jones will be eligible to redshirt and return to Northwestern for the 2015 season.

No information about the specific type of knee injury was released and Jones had been healthy up to this point in training camp.

As a junior, Jones led Northwestern with 668 receiving yards and was tied for the team lead with four touchdowns.

In training camp, Jones had established himself as one of Northwestern's most versatile weapons, able to play on the outside and in the slot. With his absence, receivers such as Kyle Prater, Cameron Dickerson, Miles Shuler and Pierre Youngblood-Ary will all have a chance to fill-in for Jones opposite established veteran Tony Jones.

This could be a major blow to Northwestern's offense, as it was presumed that the offense would rely more on the passing attack with Trevor Siemian leading the charge. Jones and Siemian had developed a strong relationship, especially after coming off the final game of 2013 where they both had career days against Illinois. Jones caught 13 passes from Siemian for 182 yards and two touchdowns.

Along with Jones' injury, Northwestern also announced that star running back Venric Mark would transfer.