The Purdue Boilermakers are going to be without the team's leading rusher for a few weeks. According to head coach Jeff Brohm, Markell Jones will miss a “couple of weeks or more” of game action.

“He’s had a good fall camp and he’s really been into it, so it’s unfortunate that this has knocked him out a little bit,” the head coach said according to the West Lafayette Journal & Courier.

Early in the second quarter of the team's season-opening loss to Louisville, Markell Jones was injured on a kickoff return that ended with a lost fumble.

This is a big loss for Purdue. Jones wasn't some slouch of a running back. He is a more than solid player.

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Last season, his 616 yards on the ground and four rushing touchdowns led the Boilermakers. He was also fifth on the team with 32 receptions. That's a lot of production gone the way of the dinosaurs. Well, at least for a few weeks.

When Jones left last weekend's game, Tario Fuller filled in. He led the team in rushing Saturday with 29 yards. As a team, Purdue ran for only 51 yards on 21 carries against the Cardinals’ defense. That's less than ideal, but it is worth noting that Louisville is expected to be good this season. The lack of production could have been more about UL's defense than it had to do with an inept running game.

Purdue faces Ohio this Friday, then travels to Missouri in Week 3. They will open Big Ten play Sept. 23 in West Lafayette against Michigan.