Auburn’s coaching staff seems to be confident that it will be a much healthier football team for its upcoming matchup with No. 1 Alabama in the annual Iron Bowl rivalry series this weekend.
After missing a core of their impact players in recent weeks due to injury — a list that grew to over eight for the Alabama A&M game this past Saturday — the Tigers are “optimistic” that they’ll be getting back a big chunk for their regular season finale in Tuscaloosa.
That includes star running back Kamryn Pettway, who still ranks second in the SEC with 1,106 rushing yards despite missing four games in 2016 and each of the last two. Quarterback Sean White will probably be a day-to-day evaluation.
Per AUNow.com, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said “I don’t think there’s anyone we’ll be without” on his side of the ball, and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said, “A lot of guys who didn’t get to play, we’re optimistic that a lot of them will be back.” He also mentioned that Pettway is up to “90-95 percent” healed from his ankle injury.
“Until we can see them do football moves at football speed, it’s sometimes hard to know,” Lashlee said. “There’s that fine line, because you got to know where they are so you can plan, but if you know they can play, you want to let them get as healthy as they can get. A game like this heals people pretty quick.”
Auburn and Alabama will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET this Saturday. The game can be watched on CBS.
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
