AU’s Cox gets a rest, but backups struggle

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http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/s...60814/cox.shtml

AU’s Cox gets a rest, but backups struggle

By Bradley Handwerger

DAILY Sports Writer

bhandwerger@decaturdaily.com · 340-2462

AUBURN — Brandon Cox worked his way through Auburn's practice Sunday without a single overhand toss of the ball.

In fact, backups Blake Field, Neil Caudle and Steven Ensminger threw every pass during the Tigers' two-hour workout.

That also means they threw all six interceptions while Cox threw none.

Don't worry, though.

Unlike a year ago, when Cox couldn't throw anything more than a Nerf football because of a sore arm, the junior quarterback is doing just fine during preseason practice.

"I just don't want the same thing to happen that happened to him last year," offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Al Borges said.

"He was getting a lot of throws. It's not that he's sore, he's just a little tired. He doesn't have much pain."

On the other hand, it couldn't be easy on the coaches to see the backups get picked off six times.

Field, No. 2 on the depth chart, tossed four of them, while Caudle and Ensminger each threw one.

"Not a good day," head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "When you get your opportunities, you've got to take it."

Field was so frustrated with his performance that he skipped out on post-practice interviews.

Borges, though, is ever the optimist. Instead of tossing papers, flipping tables and throwing drinks, he looks at practices like Sunday's with the distant future in mind.

"Sometimes you got to make a few mistakes to realize that you're making the mistakes," Borges said. "That's growing up at a position. It's a shame, it's just one of those positions where if you can make a mistake everybody knows about it and it can really, really hurt you."

The defensive backs said they weren't doing anything special.

"We held down the wide receivers and we figured out where they were going," junior cornerback Pat Lee said. "The quarterbacks threw the ball right to them.

"The wide receivers are good — we just had a better day."

As for Cox, he welcomed Sunday's rest.

"It's good to get the day off a little bit, recover for a day and get back at it tomorrow," Cox said.

The big to-do a year ago happened when Cox began having arm troubles during two-a-day practices. He stopped throwing passes, and when he did begin to pass it again, it was with Nerf footballs.

The coaching staff blamed the soreness on footballs, soaked from daily rains, being too heavy for Cox.

All Cox did Sunday was hand off to the running backs.

But, according to all involved, that was by design.

"There's nothing wrong with him," Tuberville said. "We just wanted to see our other quarterbacks get a few more reps. He'll start back tomorrow."

Added Cox: "We were in meetings last night watching film with Coach Borges and he said he wanted the young guys to get some reps with the twos and get Blake in there with the ones."

Borges said not giving Cox some time to rest last fall ended up hurting the young quarterback.

"We lost our edge a little bit," Borges said. "We're not going to push that. We asked Coach Tub to give him a day off. It's more proactive than anything else."

Cox's rest ends today. The team has its final two-a-day practice before school starts Wednesday. The Tigers will practice at 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.