Purdue Bye Week Important for Getting Star Receiver Charlie Jones Back at Full Strength
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In his first year with Purdue football, sixth-year senior Charlie Jones has been the featured receiver in a pass-heavy offensive system. He's suffered his fair share of injuries in 2022 while seeing the most extensive workload in a single season of his career.
But no matter his condition, Jones has suited up for the Boilermakers and helped lead the Big Ten's top passing offense. The star pass-catcher is among the nation's top receivers, and the team will need him to be at full strength coming out of a bye week following its loss to Wisconsin.
"Without question this week, we'll fully try to get him all the rest he can," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said on Tuesday. "It's just one of those things, I think he plays hard. He didn't practice at all last week but came out played. He was in a boot all week long."
Before last Saturday's matchup, Brohm offered no comment on how much Jones had practiced. The transfer from Iowa still led the team with 10 receptions for 105 yards in a 35-24 loss to the Badgers despite being sidelined with a lower-body injury for the entire week leading up to the game.
Through the first eight weeks of Purdue's season, Jones leads all Football Bowl Subdivision receivers with 72 catches while ranking second in the nation with 840 yards receiving. His nine touchdown grabs are third among all pass-catchers in the nation.
The Boilermakers are putting up 314.2 passing yards per game, which tops the Big Ten and is also good for 12th in the country. But after Jones, there's a steep dropoff in receiver production so far this season.
Redshirt senior tight end Payne Durham is the second-leading receiver for Purdue with 39 catches, 376 yards and four touchdowns. Five other players have registered more than 10 catches in 2022, and only two have reached the end zone.
When the team returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 5, against Iowa at Ross-Ade Stadium, it will look to cut down on turnovers that have plagued the offense in recent weeks and continue to push the ball down the field through the air.
Jones will be the centerpiece of the passing game in the final stretch of the year. Having him return as close to full health as possible will be imperative for the Boilermakers as they look to compete for a Big Ten Championship appearance.
"It's almost like he gets a new nick every week," Brohm said. "So we just got to get him as healthy as we can and hopefully get him to practice some next week. The others got to continue to step up and make plays for us.
"Our quarterback has to feel comfortable spreading the ball around. We've got to have balance, but at the same time, we can't have turnovers."
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