Feeling the whole Martinez playing hurt and being a warrior wanting to play through it is a PR move. Great, glad you have that mindset, glad you're willing to go out there and keep playing through it to try and help your team, but at some point you being out there injured begins to hurt the team because you aren't able to go 100%, and that entire decision is on the coaches shoulders. This feels like a move to save whatever face is left for Martinez's 4 years of a starting quarterback to bring him back next year for his 5th year.
How must it feel for Smothers and the other QB's to know you are not good enough to go onto the field to take over for a guy who has the most losses in starting QB history at Nebraska, has a broken jaw, bad knee, and a bad shoulder. If that isn't motivation to either get better or transfer, I don't know what is.