Keyshawn Johnson Jr. Takes Leave of Absence from Nebraska Football Team

Wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson Jr. will take an extended leave of absence from the Nebraska football team that will cause him to miss the 2017 season, it was announced Wednesday.

According to Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Herald, Johnson's father and former NFL wideout, Keyshawn Johnson Sr., said the plan is for his son to return to the team in January.

The elder Johnson said he wants his son to mature for six months before returning and offered insight into what he told Keyshawn Jr.: "You're in college now. You're an adult. You're not a kid. You take a look at it from afar and let me know how important it is to you."

Johnson Sr. said he and Nebraska head coach Mike Riley are on the same page, and he added that his son wasn't the one who chose to take a leave of absence:

"I never asked him. At the end of the day, I don't think that decision was in his hands. He squandered that decision. He still wants to play football, and he still wants to play for Nebraska. But if you don't do the things you're supposed to do, under the guidelines of me, it's not going to happen."

On June 9, Johnson Jr. was cited on suspicion of possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in a Nebraska dorm room, per Mara Klecker of the Omaha World-Herald.

The freshman was set to enter the year with lofty expectations as a 4-star recruit who ranked as the No. 36 receiver and No. 262 overall player in his class, according to Scout.com.

With Johnson Jr. currently out of the picture, leading returning receivers Stanley Morgan Jr. and De'Mornay Pierson-El will likely shoulder much of the pass-catching load for the Cornhuskers in 2017.