'A proud day' - former Tigers shine at Auburn's Pro Day

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March 10, 2017

By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - Two of Auburn's all-time best pass rushers worked together Friday at Pro Day.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Greene, the New York Jets outside linebackers coach, instructed Carl Lawson during position drills.

"It's always fun," Lawson said. "He's been a friend of mine for awhile. It was a great experience."

Greene led the SEC in sacks with 11 in 1984. He ranks No. 3 in all-time NFL sacks. Lawson led Auburn with 9 sacks in 2016.

"He's given me some tips," Lawson said. "I've texted him before he was a Jets coach, and asked him some stuff. He's always been there for me and been able to help me."

Like Lawson, fellow defensive lineman Montravius Adams projects as an early NFL draft choice next month.

"We came in together, from about 11th grade to now," Adams said. "Having that experience together, we always help each other. He's competitive with me. I'm competitive with him.

"He's always critiquing me, just helping me with the little things, so both of us can be that much better. So I really just love him for that."

For Auburn's NFL hopefuls who were not invited to the Combine, Pro Day represented their best chance to impress the scouts.

"No pressure," said Joshua Holsey. "This was my Combine, that's how I approached it. Nobody gave me that shot to go to anything, so I just kept my head down, kept grinding and got ready for this. I think I came out here and showed the scouts what I was able to do.

"I felt with the year I had, I felt like I should have been in something. They didn't see the same thing. It's all good, but I felt like today was a good day to come out here and show what I'm capable of, and I think I did that."

Auburn's Pro Day participants were part of Gus Malzahn's first Auburn recruiting class in 2013.

"This is our first group that I had as the head coach that we recruited," Gus Malzahn said. "They've been with Coach Russell for four years. Just outstanding young men, and very talented young men.

"This is a proud day for me. To get a chance to see these guys, and a lot of scouts out here to watch them do their thing. We've got a lot of NFL players in the group, too, who are going to be very successful. Really the most important thing is they're going to be successful in life. All of these guys have great character. Real proud of them."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer