Cam Jones, D.J. Matthews, AJ Barner, Jaylin Williams Out For Michigan Game

Indiana football will be without some of its top players in Saturday's Noon ET kickoff against Michigan.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As the Indiana football team took the field for pregame warmups on Saturday, a group of its veteran leaders were not dressed out.

Indiana linebacker Cam Jones, the Big Ten's leading tackler and a three-time captain, is out with a foot injury. Indiana's second leading receiver, punt returner and big-play threat D.J. Matthews is out with a hamstring injury. Another team captain and first-string tight end AJ Barner won't play due to a foot injury. All-Big Ten cornerback Jaylin Williams is sidelined with a shoulder injury.

With these losses, expect a larger workload for Bradley Jennings Jr., Jared Casey and Matt Hohlt at linebacker. Tight end James Bomba is out again, meaning Aaron Steinfeldt will be the main tight end against Michigan. Expect more targets for Emery Simmons, Andison Coby, Malachi Holt-Bennett and Donaven McCulley with Matthews out. Without Williams, Bryan Lanier, Christopher Keys and Lem Watley-Neely should see expanded playing time. 

These are four huge losses for an Indiana team approaching its toughest opponent of the season. From both a production and leadership perspective, playing without Jones, Matthews, Barner and Williams will be major challenge to this team.

With 15 minutes until kickoff, follow along with our live blog HERE.


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Jack Ankony
JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.