Jimbo Fisher addresses status of Ainias Smith, Chris Russell ahead of fall camp

Last month, Texas A&M players Ainias Smith and Chris Russell were involved in a DWI arrest. Smith got the charges dismissed, but Russell is still facing charges — and Jimbo Fisher addressed both of their statuses as training camp gets underway.

Smith was arrested July 20 or driving while intoxicated and carrying an unlawful weapon, the Houston Chronicle’s Brent Zwerneman first reported. The charges were dropped July 28. However, Russell faced charges of “failing to identify and giving false/fictitious information in the arrest involving Smith, as Smith’s passenger.” He allegedly gave a fake name and fake date of birth after an officer asked for his information.

Smith’s situation might have been amplified because he was supposed to attend SEC Media Days. However, given the situation, he didn’t make the trip to Atlanta, and Fisher addressed his mentality as practices get started after a report asked if Smith was “hurt” by staying behind.

“I think he’s come out and explained,” Fisher said. “You tell the truth and you move on and you can’t worry about that. You have to go play and do the right things and make the right decisions each and every day.”

Fisher also confirmed Russell was there, too, but didn’t say much more.

“Yeah, Chris Russell will be at practice today,” he said.

Texas A&M linebacker Chris Russell still facing charges after teammate Ainias Smith cleared

Texas A&M linebacker Chris Russell is facing charges still for his involvement in teammate Ainias Smith‘s recent arrest. Smith recently had all charges dropped against him from his July 20 arrest by university police, while at the same time Russell turned himself in for an overnight stay in Brazos County Jail for his alleged interaction with police during the arrest.

Smith was originally charged with driving while intoxicated, unlawful carrying of a weapon and possession of fewer than two ounces of marijuana, according to a Houston Chronicle report. All charges against him have been dropped and he was recently reinstated to the Aggies team following his suspension.

However, Russell was charged with “failing to identify and giving false/fictitious information in the arrest involving Smith, as Smith’s passenger.” The report explains that Russell provided a fake name and date of birth when asked for his information by an officer.

The officers at the scene made the decision to not arrest Russell for providing false identification, but following further investigation the decision was made to pursue legal action.

On3’s Austin Brezina contributed to this report.