Observations: What we saw on Day 3 of Auburn football camp
Here are 3,000+ words from a nearly 3-hour practice at Jordan-Hare Stadium, headlined by a big showing for the defense.
AUBURN — The third practice of Auburn’s camp was a real test of endurance.
The Tigers went through two practices Wednesday and Thursday in the afternoon heat, followed by an off day Friday. On Saturday morning, they got to put the pads on for the first time — and make the trip down Donahue Drive to Jordan-Hare Stadium.
While the temperatures weren’t nearly as high as they had been earlier in the week, Auburn players had to battle fatigue and each other in a practice that lasted nearly three hours.
“The humidity was up, and it tested us for sure,” head coach Hugh Freeze said afterwards. “I thought legs looked a little heavy, but that's to be expected on Day 4. They've lost so much fluid in the first few days with the humidity and the heat. But I thought they pushed through it.”
Like any preseason practice, the results were mixed for the offense and the defense. The specialists might have been the only clear-cut winners of the day, having just missed one kick in an extended period of work with a full field goal unit.
Every other spot on the field? Positives and negatives, which isn’t a bad sign.
“Obviously, without watching the film, it's hard to say — but it looked like there were quite a bit of explosive plays on offense at times and quite a few negative plays that the defense caused,” Freeze said. “We'll watch the film to see, but I really thought it was really good work from start to finish.”
Auburn allowed media members to watch all of practice from the press box inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, which was followed by an interview session featuring Freeze, quarterback Jackson Arnold and defensive end Keldric Faulk.
Here are the big takeaways from Saturday’s marathon practice, which we’ll open with the wide-open position group that drew the most attention.
New running backs flashing early
Auburn’s two returning running backs, Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb, are both dealing with minor injuries early in preseason camp. That has opened the door for others to turn heads, and they did just that Saturday.