Observations: What we saw on Day 12 of Auburn football camp
A rash of injuries to monitor at wide receiver, some passing ups and downs and a couple of transfer standouts highlight Thursday's action.
AUBURN — It’s tough, if not impossible, to strike the perfect balance in preseason camp.
For example, how do you separate positives and negatives when your offense and defense are guys on the same team? How do you make sure you get key players ready for the start of the season while also making sure younger ones get developed?
Hugh Freeze is staring down another tough question this time of year.
“How do you prepare a team, in a very physical league, to be physical, and to be healthy and fresh at the same time?” Freeze said after Auburn’s 12th preseason practice Thursday. “Camp is just… there's no way around it. We're going two weeks now, and we just have those bumps and bruises.
“We're fortunate that nothing is to the point where we've lost someone for significant time.”
In the 45-minute viewing window on a hot Thursday morning, what we didn’t see might have been as important as what we saw. One key player wasn’t participating at all. Another one was in a non-contact jersey for the first time. Several others were not full-go in drills.
And those guys were all in the same position group.
Here’s what we saw and heard Thursday during Auburn’s practice, as the Tigers are now just a little more than two weeks away from the season opener at Baylor. Auburn will have its second preseason scrimmage Friday behind closed doors, then it will open an extended game week prep period Sunday.
We’ll start, of course, with the availability report.
A wide receiver-heavy injury update
Wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. was not a participant in practice Thursday. We were told he went knee-to-knee with another player earlier this week and has a “deep thigh bruise.” He worked with the trainer in the indoor facility.
Wide receiver Cam Coleman was in a yellow non-contact practice jersey. Auburn has been careful with him throughout preseason camp.
Wide receiver Perry Thompson had a brace on his knee and wasn’t a full participant in drills during the viewing window.
Freeze also mentioned after practice that wide receivers Malcolm Simmons and Bryce Cain are also “banged up” with various issues.
Freeze: “We did, this week, have a bunch of receivers get banged up. I would say the max that they would be out is a week — that's what the medical team feels like and says. Hopefully that's accurate, and we can get them back and them have a good last week-and-a-half or so to prepare for the game.”
Singleton is expected to have the longest recovery time but, again, Freeze expects him back in no more than a week.
Linebacker Demarcus Riddick was out of a non-contact jersey and was fully dressed out Thursday. DJ Durkin said he was cleared earlier this week. Riddick has been dealing with a shoulder issue and appeared to have it braced up.
Safety Champ Anthony continues to be on a pitch count.
Freshman cornerback Blake Woodby was wearing a knee brace during practice but was a full participant. Keep an eye on that.
Freshman tight end Hollis Davidson was back at practice. He was suspended after his late July arrest for a drug charge in Georgia. Freeze: “He’s working on a plan to get back in good standing, but he’s still suspended from games indefinitely until he meets those.”
