Injuries

This seems like a good summary of the injury situation. I think Philip's first question was depth. We have depth issues mainly at offensive line and linebacker and maybe the defensive secondary.

Question No. 2: What about injuries?
By Phillip Marshall, Senior WriterPosted Jul 28, 2009Copyright © 2009 AuburnUndercover.com

Wide receiver Tim Hawthorne has a chance to be ready for opener/Todd Van Emst
Over the course of this week, we will examine five major questions facing Auburn football going into preseason practice, which begins Aug. 5. Today, we look at Question No. 2: What is the status of injured players?
AUBURN - First-year Auburn coach Gene Chizik doesn’t like to talk about injuries. And he usually doesn’t.
“I don’t think it’s fair to the players or their families,” Chizik said last Friday.
But there is no question that how some players rebound from injuries could have a significant impact on Auburn’s football season.
Here is a look at what we believe about some prominent players who are coming back from injuries:
Junior wide receiver Tim Hawthorne: Suffered a broken bone near his ankle during summer workouts. Will probably miss most of preseason practice but should be physically ready to play early in the season, probably in the opener against Louisiana Tech.
Junior safety Mike McNeil: Suffered a broken leg late in spring practice. Will probably be limited early in preseason practice but is expected to be ready to play in the opener.
Junior offensive lineman Bart Eddins: Underwent offseason knee surgery and missed much of spring practice. Should be ready to go if there are no further complications.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Barrett Trotter: Suffered a torn ACL during spring practice and underwent surgery. Is unlikely to be ready until sometime during the season.
Sophomore running back Eric Smith: Suffered a leg injury late in spring practice. It was not thought to be serious at the time. Should be ready at the start of preseason practice.
Junior defensive end Antoine Carter: Suffered a leg or knee injury during spring practice. Information about his status is sketchy. As far as we know, he also will be ready for practice.
Senior safety Aairon Savage: Suffered an Achilles injury during summer workouts and underwent surgery. After missing all last season because of a knee injury suffered in preseason practice, will probably miss all of this season. Has told teammates he will probably apply for a sixth year of eligibility.
Chizik said he and his staff will have to find a balance between having physical practices and trying to keep the injury list from growing in the month leading up to the season.
"We don't have a very deep football team," Chizik said. "Obviously, you want to keep the physical mentality, but you also have to be very smart on your approach. We’ll do that.
"We know that we have to take our best players into the game on Sept. 5. We have to have a fresh football team. That's our whole goal."