Practice report, 8/21

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Here are some mildly interesting things that were discussed after practice today.

• DT Zach Clayton missed practice with a sprained neck. His position coach, Don Dunn, said that was done as a precaution. Dunn believes Clayton will be back at practice no later than Sunday.
  
  
• There will be no follow-up scrimmage.
  
  "We're about done hitting," coach Tommy Tuberville said.
  
  
• Tuberville compared freshman CB Neiko Thorpe to former Auburn CB Carlos Rogers, which is remarkably high praise.
  
  ``He has tremendous upside," Tuberville said. ``He can make up for a lot of mistakes and in that position, a guy who can do that can cover a lot of ground. He plays with his eyes really well."
  
  
• Tuberville guessed that 10 true freshmen will play this season. He allocated playing time to 18 newcomers last season. The coach said he'll start narrowing his list this weekend. He'll be busy: Tuberville is hosting the seniors tonight for the annual Steak Dinner Powwow.
  
  "We're going to talk about the season," Tuberville said. ``We do it every year and it's always good. I let each one of them talk about their three, four or five years and what they expect, what they've seen and what good of shape we're in. I let them kind of vent tonight, which is always good to find out the pulse of the team."
  
  
• Auburn's athletic media relations director, Kirk Sampson, said today that Auburn's 2009 A-Day game will be played on March 28. If you're into planning ahead -- way way way ahead -- go ahead and make those hotel reservations.
  

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University