News of the day, 9/25

Hey everyone. Pretty boring day so far. Several players attended the media gathering this morning, but there wasn't much news. Eric Brock said he's basically playing a newly created position these days. It's part linebacker, part safety, part dime back. I'm planning to write more about that for tomorrow's paper.

Chris Evans and Mike McNeil, whose health was in question on Sunday, participated fully in Auburn's practice this morning. They're both ready to go against Florida.

Quentin Groves said today that he's been playing "like poop," which made me laugh. Where do you go from there? He said the sack record (he's one short) has been affecting the way he plays. I'll write more about that, too.

Your weekly "Tuesdays with Tommy" update will be posted around 1:45. Check back then.

Thanks for choosing to peruse the HOTTEST Auburn blog on the 'net, which loves you and nurtures you in ways only a mother knows. This blog, for the record, is genderless. Or non-gendered. Or whatever.

Some depth-chart surprises:

*Montez Billings is at No. 1 flanker now.
*The three freshmen -- Ryan Pugh (LT), Chaz Ramsey (RG) and Lee Ziemba (RT) -- have held their jobs so far. They're all listed at No. 1. Assistant coach Hugh Nall seems pretty enthusiastic about sticking with this group.
*Mike Berry, who had been at RG, now is a backup at C.
*Montgomery's Bart Eddins now is listed as Ramsey's backup.
*Brandon Cox and Kodi Burns are listed as co-starters despite Tuberville's assertion that Cox is the starter. Keep in mind that the best way to slow Florida's offense is to keep it off the field. A gradual rushing attack does that.

Here are your "Tuesdays with Tommy" nuggets -- with a BRANDON COX BONUS section. There were a couple comments that made me laugh. Can you guess which ones?

*On the team: "After last week's game, we've got some momentum."

*On the offense: "We're not great on offense right now. All you have to do is look at the SEC stats to see that."

*On the two quarterbacks: "We're trying to work out a system for both of them."

*On Merrill Johnson: "Merrill is out."

*On Tristan Davis, who practiced this morning: "Tristan's back. He's not 100 percent. Looks like he gained a little weight. Looks like he's been eating Christmas dinner."

*On Florida: "They haven't changed a lot in what they're doing."

*On last year's game against Florida: "Our fans won that game for us last year."

*On Tristan's availability: "I'm going to give him one more day. He's not in great shape. You can't do a lot when you're on crutches."

*On ousted linemen King Dunlap and Mike Berry: "They have to earn their spots back. We're not just starting (Ryan Pugh and Chaz Ramsey) because they're true freshmen."

*On playing at Florida: "If you make a mistake, there's no bench that you can go hide under. You're not just playing the team -- you're playing the whole stadium."

*On Brandon Cox: "He's been good against big teams."

*On Kodi Burns: "Since we've taken the redshirt off of him, we're going to play him."

*BRANDON COX on what he learned from watching Kodi play: "That's not the offense I run."

*BRANDON COX on playing at Florida: "It's an awakening. You can't really prepare for it."