Irons bothered by sore shoulder, groin

[DKW 86 7,425]

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/birmingha...&thispage=2

College Beat

Monday, September 11, 2006

AUBURN

Irons bothered by sore shoulder, groin

AUBURN - Auburn running back Kenny Irons says he's trying to spend more time on the practice field than the training room, but says a sore groin and shoulder are a bit of a bother.

Irons rushed 21 times for 69 yards against Mississippi State and mentioned he was sore after the game. He rushed for 183 yards in the season-opener, and says that's when he strained his groin. Irons says he'll be ready for Saturday's game against LSU, though he didn't do much in Sunday's light practice.

"They kind of held me back because of these injuries that have plagued me from the first game," Irons said. "You get the feeling that when you go out there and don't play so well, it's like wow, you only played at like 77 percent. I didn't really have that power. But I had treatment after the game and today. Now I'm starting to feel better about myself."

Irons said he "couldn't really get that extra push or that drive that I wanted or that extra burst of speed I wanted."

Irons has been good enough, however. He leads the SEC in rushing with 252 yards.

Courtney Taylor was named the coaches' top offensive player for his nine-catch performance against Mississippi State. Linebacker Karibi Dede and lineman Pat Sims shared the top defensive award. John Vaughn, who kicked a career-best 55-yard field goal a week after hitting a 52-yarder, was named the special teams' player of the week.

Coach Tommy Tuberville said Robert Dunn will remain the punt returner despite a fumble against Mississippi State.

"He just tried to run before he caught the ball," Tuberville said.

"It wasn't that he didn't have his eye on it. The No.1 sin of a punt returner is to leave before the ball gets there. Of all the times, that's one time he did it."

Dunn has returned 11 punts for 55 yards.

Defensive back Lorenzo Ferguson also got in the game after convincing coaches his bad shoulder will stand up the punishment of tackling.

"I told him before the last ball game, he was a little tentative in tackling drills, and we wanted to make sure his shoulder was good," said defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. "He came up and made an outstanding open-field tackle against a good back. So he played well and deserves to play a little bit more, and we'll continue to do that with the confidence we have in him. He stuck his face in there real well, so I was pleased."

Charles Goldberg

[Ranger12 46]

Like Kenny himself said in another article, it is a good thing there is basically no dropoff with his backup. Kenny also could be doing something smart and using the media to play the "nagging injury" game with LSU. Sounds like Kenny is tough and I forsee a big game from him this Saturday. If not, he will still do his job to help the passing game if LSU is able to stop him.

I sure wish CTT would give Tristan Davis a shot at punt returns. Heck, Brad Lester is a good one also. But, I trust CTT has his reasons so I will be happy with that.

[Wishbone 0]

KI wasn't his typical hard running self against MSU. I suspected he was slightly injured (muscle strain or something).

[Lurking Tiger 62]

[Ranger12 46]

Shhhhh...We have too many LSU lurkers around these days.

[AUesquire 1]

I've got to echo a couple of comments made here. KI didn't look to be full speed Saturday. I'm not trying to create any controversy here, but Lester has looked awesome in both his games. He is TOUGH to bring down. And if you don't get him down immediately, dat' boy is GONE. I'd have no problem with either one starting.

And yes, I'd like to see Davis get a shot at some punt returns too. I don't know if it's the blocking, the set up for return or what, but RD hasn't looked like a threat to do much yet on his returns. Maybe he'll break one soon.

[bojack34 2]

I've got to echo a couple of comments made here. KI didn't look to be full speed Saturday. I'm not trying to create any controversy here, but Lester has looked awesome in both his games. He is TOUGH to bring down. And if you don't get him down immediately, dat' boy is GONE. I'd have no problem with either one starting.

And yes, I'd like to see Davis get a shot at some punt returns too. I don't know if it's the blocking, the set up for return or what, but RD hasn't looked like a threat to do much yet on his returns. Maybe he'll break one soon.

RD has to learn to run the ball in the right direction and quit dancing like a bammer ballerina.

[DKW 86 7,425]

My God, I thought that was a nutria for a second...

Must be the Lorcets...

[DKW 86 7,425]

My God, I thought that was a nutria for a second...

Must be the Lorcets...

On the other hand, could CTT be playing possum with the Tigers?

[Ranger12 46]

Yeah, I would say it was the Lorcets.