Nebraska nose tackle Mick Stoltenberg has endured major knee injuries of his own.

He acutely understands the physical, mental and emotional impact.

So, he naturally felt awful earlier this month when he heard about Husker senior cornerback Chris Jones' knee injury.

"He's obviously a huge part of our team," Stoltenberg told reporters Saturday, a day before the start of preseason camp. "The thing I know about Chris is he's one of the hardest workers I've ever met in my life. I see him in the training room every day. He's working his butt off to get back with us.

"We just have to pray for him. You hope he can recover fast, but you just know in the back of your head he's working as hard as he can to get back."

Jones, widely regarded as Nebraska's top defender, recently underwent a meniscus repair on his left knee and could be sidelined until November, if not for the entire season. The typical recovery time for such an injury is four to six months.

Even with Jones sidelined, Stoltenberg wants improvement from a defense that was up and down last season en route to finishing 30th nationally in average yards allowed per game (363.7). The Blackshirts finished poorly, surrendering 408 yards to Iowa in a 40-10 loss and 521 to Tennessee in a 38-24 defeat in the Music City Bowl.

Nebraska head coach Mike Riley fired defensive coordinator Mark Banker in January, replacing him with Bob Diaco.

"Obviously, there were things that happened in some games last season when we got beat pretty bad," Stoltenberg said. "That's something I think about every day when I come into work ... I think it's important we think about that stuff. It's motivation. It really is.

"It's also about playing for each other. I feel the unity is tighter now than it ever has been. I feel guys really playing for each other, really (holding) each other accountable, taking care of each other, giving each other advice."

Bottom line, "We didn't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish last season," he said.

Stoltenberg said Diaco was "heavily" involved with his defense this summer, which by all accounts was an intense period in part because Riley changed the schedule, moving workouts to the heat of midafternoons.

What's more, multiple players have mentioned improvement in holding each other accountable.

Stoltenberg feels the team's overall stamina may be better than it was in recent years.

"Definitely one of the hardest summers I've had since coming here," said the junior from Gretna.

Keep in mind, Nebraska defenders still are learning intricacies of Diaco's system.

"I think there's a lot more attention to detail," Stoltenberg said. "Guys really got into workouts and kind of melded football and strength and conditioning together.

"Everything we did had both things in mind."

The 6-foot-5 Stoltenberg enters preseason camp weighing 315 pounds.

"That was at night, probably after a big dinner," he said with a smile, adding that he wants to maintain something close to that weight for the season.

He weighed 290 last season, when he started nine games and made 25 tackles (including 1½ sacks) after recovering from a knee injury suffered in December 2015. He also suffered a major knee injury as a senior in high school.

He relishes his new role as the anchor of the defensive line and pushes forward with Jones in his thoughts.

"The way he's handling (the injury) so far, and the way he's going to continue to handle it, is second to nobody," Stoltenberg said. "He knows that, I know that and I think the whole team knows that."

Stoltenberg regards NU defense's struggles last season as powerful motivator

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