Observations: What we saw on Day 5 of Auburn football camp
A move indoors Monday meant a lot of time watching Auburn's wide receivers and defensive backs go head-to-head in drills.
AUBURN — The end of the first week of camp had Auburn football going for cover.
That’s fitting, considering how well the Tigers’ defensive backs have covered over the first several practices of the preseason. Even with a couple of injury absences, Auburn’s secondary has arguably been the top-performing unit of camp so far.
“Man, those boys have got us working,” wide receiver Horatio Fields said Monday afternoon. “Every day, we're working. Every day, we're working. I appreciate those boys for their work ethic, because they know that they've gotta bring their hard hats when they step on the field — and vice versa.
“We can't take any plays off, because those boys will embarrass you.”
Auburn’s offense wants to continue to take it to the skies, but it had to go indoors with its defense Monday. The fifth practice session, which came after a loaded Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium and a return to the performance center Sunday, was completely on the indoor field because of heavy rainfall.
It was a tight-quarters situation, which only amplified the back-and-forth between Auburn’s passing attack and the defenders tasked with slowing it down.
“We’ve got a lot of offensive pieces this year that's gonna help us,” cornerback Jay Crawford said. “I feel like we’ve got people pushing us. … We’re all competing. It feels good to know that the offense gonna have our back, and we're gonna have their back.”
Media members who practically had to swim their way to the performance center Monday morning were able to watch another long stretch of practice, followed by several player interviews on the field. Auburn will be off Tuesday, then it kicks off the second week of camp with another string of three straight practice days.
Here’s what we saw and heard Monday, including two different 11-on-11 looks, a breakdown of some receiver versus defensive back 1-on-1s and the newcomer that continues to turn plenty of heads. We’ll start, though, with the traditional injury report.
Injury updates
Cornerbacks Rayshawn Pleasant and Donovan Starr remain out. Pleasant sprained his ankle, while we haven’t heard an official word on the freshman Starr.
Fellow freshman cornerback Blake Woodby appeared to get shaken up with an injury Saturday, but he looked back to 100% on Monday.
Linebacker Demarcus Riddick was back in a yellow non-contact jersey. He practiced without one for the first few days of camp after being in one all spring with a shoulder issue.
Defensive end Amaris Williams had a brace on his wrist and appeared to be limited somewhat in practice. Williams had a monster Saturday practice.
Running back Damari Alston looked better Monday after being quite limited Saturday with a heel bruise. Running back Jeremiah Cobb is still in a yellow non-contact jersey with his broken finger. Auburn is being careful with the latter.
Kicker Alex McPherson didn’t do much during the viewing window. Considering how much time he missed last year with his illness, we’ll keep a close eye on him for the rest of camp.
Two full offenses and defenses square off in 11-on-11 action
The action during the viewing window began with some individual unit drills. On the side of the field I was on, running backs and linebackers worked together on ball security, with the ‘backers trying to rip the ball away from the backs. The quarterbacks and centers worked on their snaps, while the rest of the offensive line went between run-blocking and pass-pro drills.
After some special teams work, the offense and defense went to separate sidelines and went head-to-head in 11-on-11 work. Auburn was still going “thud,” not having true, full-contact-to-the-ground work. Here’s how the units broke down: