Auburn practiced for approximately three hours this morning in what became oppressive heat. Lordy, I'm too fat to be out in the sun that long. It was a largely uneventful practice. Watched a lot of quarterback stuff, as I'd seen only a little of Kodi Burns and had never seen Chris Todd throw a pass until today. They both had their moments. Both completed some nice deep throws in 11-on-11. Also talked to them for the first time. They're good interviews -- express themselves well and aren't real dry. I always appreciate it when someone doesn't go straight into cliche mode, which you'd think might be tough considering how many of these interviews they've had to do, and will continue to do.

Anyway, some quick observations:
* For those of you who enjoy the practice scraps, the defensive backs gave us one today. I think Luke Brietzke from Auburn Undercover and I might have been the only media folks to have seen it...and we didn't really see much of it. All of a sudden there was a pileup during a DB-only drill of about six or seven people. You could see arms wailing but couldn't tell exactly who they belonged to. Well, freshman safety DeRon Furr was on the bottom of the pile and got his bell rung pretty good. After they broke it all up, he was on his hands and knees for a couple minutes before needing major assistance from a trainer to walk back to a nearby tent set up for the players' water breaks. Furr spent the rest of practice sitting in the tent, but seemed to be OK by the end. He eventually put his jersey back on and jogged out to the team grouping when Tuberville addressed the team at the conclusion of practice. Someone requested him for post-practice interviews, but they never brought him to the media tent, so we'll have to find out more about that later. Not a big deal, really, I wouldn't think. Fights happen in practice, especially in the preseason.
* Ryan Williams did practice and Tuberville said he appears to be OK academically, although he said he's not in great shape right now.
* Antonio Coleman and Tez Doolittle both worked on the side with what Tuberville said were hamstring injuries. I'm not sure whether Doolittle is fully recovered from that Achilles injury, either. We'll see about that.
* Freshman DB T'Sharvan Bell spent a lot of time during practice on the side riding an exercise bike. Joining him was No. 40, which is either Justin Albert or Anthony Jemison (they're both listed as No. 40). I didn't ask which one it was.
* Chaz Ramsey and Andre Wadley did not practice.
* While everyone else practiced in shorts and helmets, Mario Fannin practiced in shoulder pads. Tuberville said it was protect his previously injured shoulder.
* Talked to Neiko Thorpe (formerly Lipscomb) about the name change deal. He said he's always gone by Lipscomb, his mother's name. He said his parents have been married for several years and he decided he'd start going by his dad, Glenn Thorpe's, surname when he started college. He's had it legally changed and everything. So there you have it.