Here are some early notes and takes from Nebraska head coach Mike Riley from Tuesday's morning session at Big Ten Media Days.

Related: Day 1 Media Days breakdown | Will Friday night games continues? | Coaches have mixed reviews on early start to camp

CHICAGO - One of the most pressing questions facing Nebraska as it enters fall camp was how it planned to go about replacing arguably the best overall player on its defense in senior cornerback Chris Jones.

When it was announced that Jones would miss the next 4-6 months with a knee injury he suffered during summer workouts, the speculation immediately began over who the Huskers would use to replace him.

The initial thought was to bring senior Joshua Kalu, a two-year starter at corner who moved to safety this spring, back to his old position and vault senior safety Kieron Williams, who led NU in interceptions last season, into the starting lineup.

According to head coach Mike Riley, though, he and his staff are still working on finding the best solution to their unfortunate problem.

“We have some options to think about,” Riley said. “I think that the players that are basically the next men up at the (cornerback) position, that is definitely an option that I will say I’m excited about. Then the option of some movement is also interesting, whether it’s Josh Kalu or maybe Lamar (Jackson) going to the field (cornerback position).

“I think that we have to be careful, because you don’t want to all of a sudden weaken yourself at multiple spots by making a move. So you want to remain as consistent as you can. Really, one of the factors is that we don’t have a lot of depth in the secondary of guys that have played in the games much.”

By the “next men up” at cornerback, Riley is referring to sophomore Eric Lee and redshirt freshman Dicaprio Bootle. Both of them had strong springs, and even further helping their cause is how much NU loves the idea of keeping Kalu at safety.

Riley said he has yet to even have a sit-down conversation with Kalu about what he wants to do, but that talk would likely happen within the next few days before the start of fall camp.

Regardless of what Nebraska decides, Riley made no attempt to sugarcoat how the losses of Jones and safety JoJo Domann have impacted the entire complexion of the secondary.

“I cannot spin that in a positive way,” Riley said. “That is not a good thing. But with that, we now have to go forward and turn that page and make it good. We cannot ever use this as a reason or an excuse.”

- Robin Washut

Another major question still facing Nebraska as it rolls into the fall is what, if any, potential discipline standout wide receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. could face for an off-the-field incident he was involved with earlier this summer.

Morgan was pulled over while in Florida and initially arrested on suspicion of felony possession of marijuana. Junior safety Antonio Reed was in the car with him at the time but was not charged.

Morgan’s charge was quickly dropped to a misdemeanor, but it's been widely assumed that the junior would still face some sort of suspension this season by Nebraska as further punishment for his actions.

The initial guess was that Morgan would likely be given a one-game suspension for the season opener, based most recently on former NU wide out Brandon Reilly receiving a similar punishment for his DUI arrest prior to last season.

As it stands right now, there have been no final decisions made on that front.

“We have taken some great, gigantic steps with those two kids that got into trouble in Florida since that time,” Riley said. “I’ve been really proud of the work that’s been done behind the scenes in that way.

“What we do as far as the games or anything else going forward has not been finally decided, but like I said, I’ve been really pleased with he steps that have been taken and excited about the progress that has been made there.”

- Robin Washut

When 2017 Nebraska signee Elijah Blades announced he was attending Arizona Western College, there was some initial confusion that he chose the opportunity over taking an academic redshirt at NU as a partial qualifier.

If true, Blades could’ve still come to Nebraska and sat out the 2017 season, then be immediately eligible in 2018 if he met the additional academic requirements. Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Riley said the academic redshirt was not an option for Blades.

“No, he could not. I don’t know what was said on that, but it was a very similar situation - the exact situation - with (Deiontae) Watts,” Riley said when talking about his two 2017 recruits who failed to academically qualify.

So if Blades was academically ineligible, why didn’t the Huskers place him themselves in a junior college? By doing that, they would unofficially still own the rights to get him back after two years.

“First of all, I don’t ever think of ‘placing’ a guy. I think of advising,” Riley said. “They have to make that decision themselves, so I never get into that business of ‘this is where we want you to go’.

"I think for them, that’s going to be another personal decision that’s going to be very important to them. We can give advice. We do have some thoughts, but that’s as far as I’d go with it.”

-Sean Callahan

One of the most common storylines for all of the coaches at Big Ten Media Days was the the conference’s decisions to start playing a handful of Friday night games, beginning this year with one of which including Nebraska at Illinois on Sept. 29.

While other programs like Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State have already refused to participate in Friday night games, NU athletic director Shawn Eichorst has publicly stated that the Huskers are set to play Friday game for three years.

Though others may be embracing the idea, Riley said he was definitely not a fan of playing on any other day than Saturdays.

“I know that this has been a big, big discussion,” Riley said. “I’m not overly passionate about it, but I’ll say a couple things though: that I understand TV and windows and opportunity. I get that. I think what’s happened for college football and programs and for athletic departments with the money that’s involved with the Big Ten Network, for all sports, is a big deal. So I understand that part of it.

“I also understand as a football coach, I do not like short weeks. I do not like to get out of the routine of what we do week to week to get ready for a game. I hate that, as a matter of fact. I’m a real routine guy, and the countdown to a game, I don’t like changing that, so adjusting that way is no fun for me.”

In fact, Riley was asked point blank whether he would remove Nebraska from its remaining Friday night games after this season?

“Yeah, I would,” Riley said. “For those reasons. I like (playing on) Saturdays and I like a full week of preparation.”

- Robin Washut

Even though junior Nebraska quarterback Tanner Lee has technically not taken a snap at Nebraska, the New Orleans native was one of the players Riley chose to represent the Huskers in Chicago at Big Ten Media Days.

Riley said on Tuesday that should serve as a good indicator of the overall confidence level he has in Lee at this point.

“The good thing for Tanner and us is he has played in college football games. And the other part of it is he's been with our team for about a year,” Riley said. “He had to sit out a year, due to the transfer rules, and his entry has been impressive in just the simple fact that he became a good teammate.

"He became immediately well liked and through time became very well respected, enough so to be elected at one of our - not our seasonal yet, but our off-season captains for our off-season conditioning program. And led a team through that time. And got a large amount of votes from the current team.”

It also helped that Lee locked up the starting quarterback job over the course of spring practice.

“The other reason that he's here is that he earned that job through good competition in our spring ball to be our starting quarterback heading into the season,” Riley said. “So I thought it was very appropriate that he would be here with us today.”

-Sean Callahan

Of all the issues Nebraska has had to deal with this offseason, none have been harder for Riley than the sad and unexpected loss of new safeties coach Bob Elliott, who passed away to cancer earlier this month.

Even though Riley had only gotten to work with Elliott for a short amount of time, he said he was still able to learn a lot from the former 38-year coaching veteran and that Elliott definitely made a lasting impact on him.

“That has been one of the hardest things for me,” Riley said. “I guess my relationship with Coach Elliott, working with him was way too short… The things that I learned about him in such a short time were much more dramatic than all of that history of what he had on his resumé…

“I really thought that on a personal level this was going to be a really fun guy for me to work with. But I really thought we would absolutely, through the end of all of this, would be good friends. And so I will really miss that opportunity with him.”

While he didn’t give any details, Riley confirmed that Nebraska would honor Elliott in some form during the upcoming season.

“We are very thankful for our time and very sorry for what has happened,” Riley said. “Yes, we have plans with our team to be able to remember Bob Elliott through our season.”

- Robin Washut

***Riley said linebacker Alex Davis is recovering well from a stress fracture he suffered in his foot this offseason and think he’ll be fine heading into camp.

***Riley said linebacker Avery Roberts (foot) will be ready to play as well entering fall camp.

***Defensive end DaiShon Neal is dealing with an unspecified nagging injury that NU will keep an eye on during fall camp. Neal underwent season-ending knee surgery in 2015.