It has been a weird week for the Nebraska athletic department. On Monday (June 3), baseball head coach Darin Erstad called it a career. He cited the desire to spend more time with his family as the main reason why. While there are some who might claim that move was actually a good one, it's hard to find a positive in either happening involving the Nebraska football team on Tuesday (June 4).

It started with an early evening announcement that Maurice Washington had been cited with marijuana possession in his dorm. That announcement was followed by the revelation that freshman defensive back CJ Smith had entered his name into the transfer portal.

The departure of Smith was both a bit of a shock and a bit of a mystery, considering it was assumed he was going to be competing for playing time in the Husker backfield this fall.

One more transfer out for Nebraska football

The redshirt freshman entered his name into the portal earlier on Tuesday, according to 247Sports. He is actually the second young defensive back who has decided to move on. He and Cam'Ron Jones came in with the 2018 recruiting class. Both were considered jewels of that class.

While Jones appears to have decided to move on after he didn't get any playing time last year, Smith is a different story. CJ didn't play much in the defensive backfield last year, but he did manage to get on the field as a special teamer.

Unfortunately, his season was cut short when he injured himself in the Northwestern game on kick coverage. That's why Smith will leave the Nebraska football team as a redshirt freshman rather than a sophomore.

Interestingly, it appears a retweet by Cam'Ron Jones might have been a bit of foreshadowing about what Smith was thinking in the last few days.

Jones tweeted out, "Don’t let the pain and the feeling of neglect change you ... that’s another reason to keep going." If CJ Smith was feeling as though the coaches were neglecting him, it would explain why he felt it was time to move on.

Maurice Washington's bad month

On its own, it would be easy to laugh off the Nebraska football running back getting caught with weed accessories in his dorm room.

The problem is that Washington is already facing well known legal trouble in California. In fact, Washington is due back in the state next week for his next hearing.

Perhaps it's good this particular situation occurred before that hearing. Washington will most likely be entering a plea. If he pleads guilty in exchange for probation and was cited with marijuana possession after that, it could be a violation of the probation. What impact it could have on his tenure as a Nebraska football player is another matter entirely.
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