I'm keeping this fairly brief because they start the first of two practices tomorrow (I guess it's today where I am) in about eight hours. And I'm tired.

First things first, here are my Auburn-related stories in the Thursday paper:

* Aairon Savage is out for the season.
* Notebook. Leads with Antonio Coleman's return to practice. Other injury notes included.
* Feature on Chris Slaughter, who has been very good thus far in preseason practice. Tony Franklin said he's been the biggest pleasant surprise in camp.
* Ex-Auburn swimmer Margaret Hoelzer is America's best shot at gold in the 200-meter backstroke in Beijing. She'll have to beat her former Auburn roomate Kirsty Coventry to end America's winless streak in the event that dates back to 1972.

Now some quick notes:
* Obviously the big news was that Aairon Savage had season-ending surgery on his
* Jason Bosley injured his lower back while squaring off with Mike Blanc in pass rush drills. Tommy Tuberville seemed to think it was no big deal, saying linemen are always going to be twisting something. True, but Bosley didn't look like he felt too hot to me.
* In other injury news, Lee Ziemba (knee) didn't practice for the second straight day. Tuberville said it's not a big thing. Tez Doolittle (hamstring) again watched from the side, but Antonio Coleman (hamstring) got his first action today. He said he felt good. Zach Clayton got poked in the eye on an inside running drill and came out. Ben Tate also went and sat with the injured guys in the tent late in practice, but he was moving around fine when they gathered up. Don't know what the deal was there.
* Speaking of that inside running drill, freshman DE Cameron Henderson took Clayton's place when he came out for the final rep. He laid a huge hit and stopped the running back to end the drill. Got a lot of pats on the back for that one.
* If you haven't caught on already, I love watching that pass rush drill. Probably the best rep of the entire drill today was when Jake Ricks absolutely trucked Byron Isom one time with a bull rush. To Isom's credit, he held Ricks off the next four times the duo squared off.
* I enjoy watching Jomarcus Savage. I think he's going to be a very good player at Auburn. He split the victories in four reps against Jared Cooper, but his wins are often decisive. Think I might have to write about him soon.
* Conversely, I don't think Raven Gray has won a rep yet. He comes close sometimes, but seems to get pushed far outside too often.
* Catches of the day that I witnessed in passing drills:
1. Mario Fannin from Chris Todd
2. Terrell Zachary from Barrett Trotter over Zac Etheridge
3. Quindarius Carr diving catch from ???
* Best defensive play I noticed in one-on-ones was Ryan Williams (at least I believe that's who it was. He was wearing No. 24) batting down a pass to Derek Winter in the end zone.

All for now. More after the morning practice.