First, let’s not think too much of it. This happens everywhere — man, we’re saying that a lot lately, aren’t we? — and it’s probably unfair to the kid to make it into news bigger than it really is. For that, I can understand Bill Stewart’s insistence to keep the volume low. He sounded Monday like a guy who just needed to talk to his player and thought that’d be enough to get things back on track.

Having said that, going on Facebook, saying you’re going to Baylor and explaining the move by saying you feel you’re being used improperly, only to come back and say it was a rouse (all alleged acts, by the way, in that some suggest it wasn’t him) does change things a bit. But only a bit.

Probably the only concern worth having is a practical one: If Johnson leaves, what does it mean for WVU?

Let’s put this plainly: WVU doesn’t want any more distractions. For everything that’s happening around football, very little — and perhaps nothing — was happening within football. The coaches and the players were just practicing in advance of the season. I was actually increasingly impressed with things.

As soon as the Johnson stuff started and went public, I wondered if that might change. I don’t have Jeremy Johnson on Facebook. I didn’t get the news from a message board, as I’m sure a lot of others did. I got it via e-mail and people I know in the business in Texas. A lot of them expressed a message of : “This is all WVU needs.”

Not that a kid was leaving, but that he was airing it out — though there seems to be a theory Johnson couldn’t have been active on Facebook because he was in the Puskar Center at post times, though I wonder if he, like so many others, has a Facebook application on his phone. Then the messages disappeared, as did whatever mess this threatened to create.

Then it became just a  matter of football. For a kid who’s been here since June, I really wonder if he’s homesick. It’s possible, but it’s a long time to reach that conclusion. And kids can fall into, and can be talked out of homesickness, easily. And seeing as if Saturday’s scrimmage probably wasn’t all Johnson pictured, that may be the card on the table.

If it’s about football and philosophy and playing time, that might be more difficult to massage. (Side: Suppose this happens as presented in many forums and Johnson goes to Baylor. Scrimmage Saturday, Facebook proclamation Monday, obviously something happened in the middle. Um, that’s fast, isn’t it? Just saying …) 

And if that’s the case and Johnson goes, WVU’s plans are really wrinkled. Barry Brunetti almost certainly cannot redshirt and he’s going to carry a little more pressure on his shoulders. Gone is that oh so valuable depth WVU just hasn’t had with the current staff.

Of course, we might be overlooking this: Barry Brunetti may be that good. You would have to assume both QBs entered the derby trying to assess the other and where one stood in relation to the other. You would also have to assume both knew of options at other places. If the alarm were to sound, one might eject before while those options were still available.

Still, Coley White is probably headed back to the quarterback meetings, and just as he was getting the hang of slot receiver, thanks to a week of slot-only practice/meetings. That then hits the slot depth hard, though it might create a chance for a Stedman Bailey to get even more of an opportunity as a slot/WR as opposed to a WR. He can play both and everyone is raving about him.

And what of recruiting? Eu Smith is a sophomore. Brunetti and Johnson were freshmen and one was probably going to redshirt. WVU has a pledge from Minnesota’s Brian Athey. That’s four scholarship quarterbacks all broken up by one class. Would WVU, with it’s 16-20 signees thing, be going after another 2011 QB? Maybe and possibly with conditions — ie, “We might only need you if someone transfers.” It could be a little late to get a guy WVU had on reserve … or to get going toward recruiting and getting a promise from someone.