Owen Pappoe dealt with several injuries last season, and a report out of Auburn suggests that the Tigers linebacker will take the spring off to recover.

Pappoe, a senior linebacker, is expected to sit out full contact drills, according to a report from Auburn Undercover.

Pappoe about 2 months ago announced that he would play a fourth season at Auburn after he considered the NFL.

Because of injuries, Pappoe only appeared in 5 games last season, and made 23 tackles and 3 tackles for loss.

Pappoe was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school, and signed in Auburn’s 2019 class and started every game as a true freshman. Then in 2020, his tackles increased from 49 to 93 in Year 2. Overall across 3 seasons, Pappoe has played in 29 games, logging 165 tackles, including 12 for loss and 6 sacks, as well as 5 passes defended (1 interception), a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

With all the turmoil around Auburn, Pappoe’s return is a big addition to the defense. Now that the NFL is on the table, Pappoe has plenty to prove this season. Given the departures of Zakoby McClain and Chandler Wooten, Pappoe will be one of the premier leaders of the Auburn defense in 2022, so taking some time off to get healthy makes sense.