Hugh Freeze updates injury status of multiple Auburn players

When it comes to football, injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. For the Auburn Tigers, the injuries have racked up for them at fall camp. Recently, head coach Hugh Freeze went down the list of players dinged up for the Tigers currently and revealed which ones he believes could linger longer than anticipated.

“I did want to go through the injuries, and Steiner’s been limited all of camp with a hamstring. Koy Moore has had an ankle; hadn’t been able to go,” said Freeze. “Cam, he had just a string of bad luck and really hadn’t practiced since I’ve been here, truthfully, in spring or in camp. And we sure do need him to get healthy.

“Var (Ja’Varrius Johnson) just had an incident in practice where he had to have some stitches in his mouth. And it’s just very uncomfortable right now to wear a chin strap down in his gum. He’ll be fine. Malcolm Johnson is dealing with a shoulder, and Austin Keys‘s dealing with a shoulder. I don’t think either one of them are significant. But those are the guys that have been either limited or hadn’t been able to go.”

The question was initially poised asking about the status of wide receivers Camden Brown and Ja’Varrius Johnson, who were both absent from the Tigers scrimmage on Saturday. Brown is entering his sophomore season at Auburn and will likely play a much more significant role in their offense this season. Last year, he finished the year with nine receptions for 123 yards with two touchdowns. And Johnson, who is a senior, is looking to build off of his 26 receptions, 493 yards, and two touchdown performance in 2022.

Freeze re-evaluating QB battle after scrimmage

Freeze thought had his mind made up on his quarterback rotation for the 2023 campaign. But the Tigers’ headman just had a change of heart. Following Auburn’s recent scrimmage during their fall camp, Freeze revealed that the performances on the day by Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford, and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner have him rethinking his previous decision.

“Take care of the ball,” said Freeze, highlighting the most important attribute he and his coaching staff were looking for in his quarterbacks. “Play within the offense and take what you should take on a given play; that the ball goes in the right spot. Hopefully, it’s accurate when we do throw it.

“The accuracy hopefully will come, but we got to take care of the ball, and we have to be playing in the right space on giving plays in our offense. I thought all three did that fairly well today. Robby threw a touchdown pass. I think Holden did also; Payton did not. But they all did not turn the ball over. That’s priority number one in offensive football, and so that was good.”