Kansas coach Lance Leipold announced in his weekly press conference on Monday that linebacker Jaron Willis has suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Willis, who previously played at Ole Miss and South Carolina, had been serving as a reserve for the Jayhawks. Through six games, Willis had played 70 snaps, 11 on defense and 59 on special teams, according to Pro Football Focus.
“He’s a really, really fine young man that’s worked extremely hard, accepted his role, helped us in special teams, was getting better,” Leipold said. “It’s unfortunate but that’s another one, so another guy down.”
Willis recorded two solo tackles in the season opener against Long Island and assisted on a tackle on Saturday against Kansas State, the game during which he was injured.
Injuries have not been kind to the Jayhawks this year. Willis’ college career will presumably come to a close after the season is over because he has already played in parts of five seasons (and the NCAA has significantly curtailed its waiver process). He joins defensive tackle Tre’von McAlpine and running backs Kory Amachree, Justin Thurman and Yasin Willis in the ranks of Jayhawks with injuries expected to be season-ending.
