OK, it wasn't that cold. It was relatively cold. And too early. But enough complaints. Here are a few observations ...

• TE Philip Lutzenkirchen wasn't dressed out. Not sure why, but he wasn't even in uniform.

• S/LB Daren Bates (shoulder), WR Travante Stallworth (knee), LB Harrison Gaston (wrist) and LG Mike Berry (knee) were in pads but limited in what they could do. The first three wore orange, non-contact jerseys.

• Plenty of folks doing kick returns drills: Mario Fannin, Onterio McCalebb, Demond Washington, Terrell Zachery, Ralph Spry and Neiko Thorpe.

• Lots of punt return guys too: Quindarius Carr, Eric Smith, Philip Pierre-Louis, Blake Poole, Darvin Adams, T'Sharvan Bell, Washington and Fannin.

• The other day punt returners were letting the ball bounce of their facemasks on purpose, supposedly to work on looking the ball all the way in. Today, they were catching them with one arm. I guess this is to improve their dexterity. It looks easier for some (Fannin, in particular) than others.

• Two signees -- DT Jeffrey Whitaker and LB LaDarius Owens -- were in attendance. Must be spring break.

• Ryan Shoemaker had some booming punts. I was standing next to Wes Byrum, who shouted out to compliment Shoemaker from across the field a number of times.

• Fashion alert:Auburn hasn't abandoned the white shoes it wore in the bowl game. Some are wearing the white ones. Some are wearing black.

• Although it was cold, offensive line coach Jeff Grimes wore shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. He's tough. He coached at cold-weather places like Boise State, BYU and Colorado. Running backs coach Curtis Luper wore shorts and a short-sleeve shirt too, but he had an Under Armour skeleton underneath it and a winter cap. Smart move.

I'll be back with more following practice. You'll be able to find out exactly when anything gets posted if you follow the blog on Twitter.