AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen has resumed participating in practice after landing awkwardly on his head following a hit earlier this spring.

Lutzenkirchen, the presumptive frontrunner to replace Tommy Trott as the team’s starting tight end, missed three or four practices as a precautionary measure after being catapulted into the air by a hit from Drew Cole and Eltoro Freeman.

He’s back to 100 percent now and hoping to improve on a freshman campaign during which he caught five passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns in limited playing time.

“You can see him getting confidence and getting more physical,” Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. “We know he can catch the football, but we’re asking him to do more dirty work and he’s starting to really get confidence and do a better job each practice.”

Lutzenkirchen, a highly-rated member of Auburn’s 2009 recruiting class, spent almost all of his time at Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga., playing in the slot or out of the backfield. He was used to playing in space, not in coming off the line powerfully.

“I think one of the reasons I didn’t play a lot last year is because I wasn’t comfortable playing on the ground,” he said. “All this spring we’ve been working with my hand on the ground a whole lot more and I feel a lot more comfortable with that. I feel pretty even with both of them.”

The 6-foot-4, 246-pound sophomore is working at a tight end/H-back position along with junior Eric Smith and redshirt freshman Robert Cooper.

“I’m kind of fighting for a position right now to play a lot more,” he said. “It’s sparking me to get better overall.”

Some other notes and quotes:

• Auburn’s coaches continued to rotate reps among the four quarterbacks vying for the job — Cam Newton, Neil Caudle, Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley. Malzahn and head coach Gene Chizik have said repeatedly that they would like to narrow the field, but they remain in no rush to do so. “We’re not in a hurry,” Malzahn said. “Just like last year, we want to be 110 percent for sure not only when we name the starter but when we really narrow things down. “Common sense would tell you you’d like to do that as soon as you can just for your team’s sake, but at the same time we have the luxury of the spring and I just want to make sure and coach Chiz just wants to make sure that we get the right guy and give everybody equal chance.”

• The reps haven’t been split evenly in every case. Newton and Trotter got a greater share during last Saturday’s scrimmage, although Malzahn said he switched things up Wednesday during the closed portion of practice. “I’m just trying to really figure out the information I need to figure out from each one of them,” he said. “I know all four of them are good for certain areas. We’re doing a whole lot of blitz pickup and hot reads and all that. We’re just trying to put those guys in the situation that we need.”

• Mario Fannin got an extended look as the primary ballcarrier during Wednesday’s practice. Malzahn liked what he saw from the senior, who played H-back last year. Asked if he has emerged as the No. 1 running back among a group that includes Smith, sophomore Onterio McCalebb and redshirt freshman Dontae Aycock, Malzahn seemed to say so. “We definitely would like him to,” Malzahn said. “He was kind of battling some injuries coming up to spring, so now he’s getting healthy enough to really show what he can do.”

• Malzahn on Smith, who seems to be this year's Fannin, a guy who can play multiple positions: "He's doing a little bit of both. He's a smart guy. He knows the offense very well. That H-back, probably second to the quarterback, you've got to really be aware of everything. We ask him to do a lot, but he's a smart kid. He's a tough kid and he's also capable of playing tailback."

• Wide receiver Philip Pierre-Louis (knee) and left guard Bart Eddins (knee) were not at practice Wednesday. There was no update on their status.

• T'Sharvan Bell, who had two interceptions in the Outback Bowl, has worked at corner this spring. He worked at both last year.

• Auburn entertained Under Armour All-American quarterback Christian LeMay of Matthews, N.C., one of the top recruits in the Southeast for 2011. The Tigers, along with more than a dozen prominent schools, have already offered the high school junior. Carver High’s Gabe Wright, a 6-foot-3, 273-pound defensive tackle, also made a visit to Auburn’s football complex.

• There seems to be a lot of players working as Auburn's third linebacker this spring. Seems like Freeman, who has worked some as Bynes' backup in the middle, isn't necessarily a lock to be a starter at one outside spot. Jessel Curry and Jonathan Evans have worked out on the weak side, while Craig Stevens and Ashton Richardson have worked at the strong side. Harris Gaston is injured and hasn't participated. And who knows how Daren Bates will fit into the mix.

• Here is defensive coordinator Ted Roof's answer about if anyone has stepped up to be the third linebacker starting with Bynes and Stevens: "We're rolling a lot of guys through there as well. Once again, to provide different guys different opportunities with certain groups because the qualities of reps that you should get when you run with the first team is different than the quality of reps you get when you're running with other units. So to try to roll a bunch of guys through there and have our system interchange enough where we can put the next best guy in there and not get bogged down by just pigeonholing guys at this position, but to be able to put the best linebacker in there. But as far as anybody jumping out at this point, the answer is no."

• Stevens remained upbeat about Freeman's progress (we're resorting to quoting other players because Eltoro, despite repeated media requests, is always crossed off the list by the coaches): "Toro's been doing good. He's just ... every now and then he gets caught up in the play. Overall he's been doing good. He's kind of calmed down a little bit and trying to actually get into the playbook a little bit more. I think we're going to see that by the time the season comes around and see his change in play. He's still runs around and gets after it."

• Stevens on Newton: "He's probably right up there at the top of the list. He's a pretty big guy, both strong and fast, so that's a lot to deal with in a quarterback. And he can throw so you have to be aware of everything. He kind of reminds me of the guy from West Virginia (Jarrett Brown) with his elusiveness, but he has a good arm too, so he's up there near the top."

• Finally talked to Ikeem Means. Very nice kid. I should be doing his story for a little later. The Lee Ziemba stuff jumped him to the top of the story chart. I plan to have a full Ziemba story for Friday's newspaper, but you can read about his comments about penalties in this blog post. I'll have some video up shortly.