Auburn notebook 8-15

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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Huntsville Times

Tuberville says Tigers better but still lethargic

AUBURN - Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville was happier than he was 24 hours earlier, but he still wasn't jumping for joy after Auburn's second practice of the day Monday.

Tuberville, who harshly criticized his players' focus and energy after Sunday's practice, said he saw some improvement Monday, but not enough.

"We still look rusty," Tuberville said. "We've got a lot of room to catch up just to where we were in spring practice for some reason. We've got a lot of guys struggling with injuries and a lot of guys struggling with the heat. We have to play in it, so we have to get used to it."

Monday's practices were the last for this year on the intramural fields. The Tigers will move to the softer, more comfortable practice fields behind the football complex for today's practice. They'll take Wednesday off for the first day of classes and return to practice Thursday morning.

"It was a little bit better this morning," Tuberville said. "I think some guys were embarrassed yesterday. Their teammates stepped up, which makes it a little more embarrassing than when coaches jump on you."

Better days ahead: Tuberville said he expects better execution as coaches begin to give most of the work to the top two units.

"We're going to have long meetings for the next couple of days," Tuberville said. "We might make some depth chart changes and look at some positions. We don't want to wait until midseason to see something isn't going to work."

Field bounces back: Sophomore Blake Field, the backup to starting quarterback Brandon Cox, struggled Sunday when Cox sat out to rest his arm. Field heard his coaches' criticism and bounced back with a strong performance in Monday morning's team drills.

"It was pretty tough," Field said. "It was real tough. My number was dialed and I wasn't ready. It was just one of those experiences I'm going to have to keep preparing for and be ready for when it is time. Coach (Al Borges) is always telling us to recover. That's what I had to do this morning. The defense was moving all over the place. I have to think quicker than I did.

Irons sits and frets: Senior cornerback David Irons watched practice from the sideline Monday, nursing a strained hamstring.

Irons said he hopes to be full speed in time for the season opener against Washington State.

"I just don't want to rush and mess it up and miss about five games," Irons said. "I'm just praying and hoping for the best right now. I'm rehabbing hard."

Practices closed: Tuberville said future practices, including scrimmages, will be closed to the public and to the media.

"It's time to go to work and let y'all do a little guessing," Tuberville said. "Some of y'all guess pretty well."