Harry Adams’ position was a topic of debate with the old coaching staff and appears to be the same with the new group.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound sophomore moved back to wide receiver after spending last season and the first part of the spring as a cornerback. The coaches discussed the move Wednesday and made it official during Thursday’s practice.

“I told you, recruiting is like shaving. If you don’t do it every day, it shows,” wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said. “Even when he was at DB, I was still recruiting him. I think he likes the idea of getting his hands on the ball and making some plays.”

Adams adds a speed element sorely lacking in the Tigers’ shallow pool of wide receivers. He claims he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds, making him one of the fastest players on the team.

“With the offense we run, speed kills,” said Adams, who is backing up Tim Hawthorne at an outside receiver spot.

Adams was recruited as a receiver out of Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but moved to defense at Tommy Tuberville’s request just two days into camp last August. He played sparingly last season, mostly on special teams. When given the opportunity this week to move back to offense, he jumped at it.

Taylor liked what he saw out of Adams on Thursday, including a long gain on a post route during the 11-on-11 session. But he cautioned it will take time.

“You’re not going to just walk in the SEC and switch over,” Taylor said. “The good thing about it is he’s smart enough to do it, he’s talented enough to do it and now it’s going to be about whether he’s willing to do it. I’m going to find that out pretty quickly. The first day, I was impressed.”

Some other notes and quotes from Thursday ...

• RB Eric Smith hurt his leg during Tuesday's practice. Head coach Gene Chizik said it wasn't serious, but running back Ben Tate offered a more serious diagnosis. "I think he’ll be out for the rest of the spring, but he’ll be ready to go in a month or two,” Tate said. “It didn’t really get hit. It’s like how his body torqued on that knee.”

• RB Onterio McCalebb is still dealing with a hamstring injury.

• DE Antoine Carter hasn't been practicing after suffering a leg injury last week and DL Cam Henderson has been dealing with a high-ankle sprain. "With a bum ankle it's hard to get a whole lot out of him," defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said. "He's trying to play hard, but with a high ankle sprain, it's just like playing with ten out there when he's out there."

• Rocker wasn't concerned about the lack of bodies up front. "There ain't none to pick from," he said. "What we got, we've got to make it work."

• Rocker on DT Jake Ricks: "The thing is, Jake has approached practice. He's came to practice every day with just trying to do it the Auburn way and that's been the positive thing about Jake is that he's approached practice. You see a consistency every day of trying to be a good football player and playing with effort -- the Auburn way. That's what you see in him and that's what we're trying to get done. But he's been good, he's been great."

• Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen liked what he saw out of sophomore Mike Slade in Saturday's scrimmage. He said Slade made 10 tackles.

• Thigpen said sophomore backup safety Christian Thompson is his best tackler. "Christian every day gets better and better," he said. "He's just got to keep working on the little things, like technique and footwork and what his eyes are doing. Right now his eyes are all over the place. But he's conscious of it and everyday he asks good questions."

• Starting safeties Zac Etheridge and Mike McNeil aren't the most vocal players on the team, but Thipgen doesn't mind. "To me, you lead by bringing your pads," he said. "I'm not into that rah-rah. I know a lot of people are. If you go out there and knock somebody out, the crowd will do all that for you. The thing they do, guys, is they have a lot of experience and they know what they're doing out there. That's the thing I like about the both of them. They come in the meeting rooms, they're making sure the young guys -- and that's what I look at the most. For those two guys having all that experience, they're not selfish at all. They're talking to the young guys and making sure they communicate with the corners. They're getting to the role where they can take charge. My goal is that they know where everybody is on the football field. Everyday's a challenge."

• The Tigers’ scrimmage this Saturday will be mimic last week’s setup, with the offense competing against the defense using Chizik’s rewards-based point system. The only difference will be the addition of special teams work. Chizik also said to expect more passing. Auburn ran the ball two-thirds of the time in its first scrimmage.

• The Super 6 Alabama state championships will rotate between Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn the next six years after spending the last 13 years in Birmingham's Legion Field. "I thought it gives an opportunity to people that may not otherwise have an opportunity to come here,” Chizik said. “It’s good for the whole student body. It’s good for Auburn, for people that just want to be students or play in the band or be cheerleaders or baseball players, I think it’s great exposure all the way around.”

• Trooper, as usual, had a bunch of good stuff that comes across better on video, so I'll save that for tomorrow. Check back for an update.