NOTES: Pre-practice (8/22/10)

Hey everyone. Let’s boogie down … down to the ground.

• QB Cam Newton, above, said he still feels like Auburn is an underdog — even if the team is ranked No. 22: “Any time you turn on the TV or turn on the sports talk radio show or anywhere, they’re talking about the other team. So any time that we don’t feel like we’re above them … of course we know that they’re an excellent team as well. We feel like we’re not being mentioned as we should be.”
• Auburn will practice tonight in shorts after what appeared to be a pretty rigorous scrimmage on Saturday.
• The Tigers still don’t have a No. 2 quarterback identified. Gene Chizik said this about getting someone on the scout team: “It might be kind of by committee. We’ve obviously got to get a guy down there who can give us some good looks throwing the football. Maybe it’s this guy’s role for 20 minutes, this guy’s role for 10 minutes … by committee.”
• The Tigers still haven’t identified a starter at right tackle. Chizik: “That’ll probably be happening by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I hate to put a deadline on something because there other variables in there, but we’d like to do it as soon as we could.”
• So what are the candidates saying? Here’s John Sullen: “Me and A.J. (Greene) are battling out right now. It’s a long process right now. We’re still trying to figure out who’s going to come out on top. A.J., that’s probably my best friend on the team. So we stay everyday after practice and work extra and just trying to get better, so the best man will win.”
• OG Bart Eddins said he’ll never be the same after three knee surgeries, but he’s been encouraged by recent physical progress: “Physically it’s probably the best I’ve been in two or three years. I mean, the knees, I don’t have a good knee, but it’s been the best I’ve felt in a long time.”
• TB Mario Fannin on what he can gain from being around freshman Mike Dyer: “Just being a more confident person in the skills I have. He’s very confident in what he knows that he can do. It’s so different — I try to be so humble. Sometimes, I can be so humble that I’m not confident in myself. That’s something I’m going to take and learn from him.”

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE FORUMS