AUBURN, Ala. - Evaluations will be conducted and perhaps positions earned Thursday morning when Auburn scrimmages for the first time after five preseason practices.
"We want to see who can execute, block and tackle, that's the most important thing," offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. "There won't be a lot of flash."
Running back, offensive line and in the secondary are the areas where Auburn replaces the most starters.
"The first scrimmage, for me usually in the fall, is the one you get maybe the most information about," Lindsey said. "At least you narrow it down a little bit from a personnel standpoint.
"'Let's find the answers for these running backs. Let's hand the ball to them a bunch and see who can run when they're tired and who can pass protect and remember what to do."
Competing against Auburn's defense, which ranked No. 12 in scoring (18.5) last season, intensifies the challenge for the Tigers' offense during scrimmages.
"[Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele] doesn't try to overload them with information. He tries to put them in a really good spot, a very sound spot, and lets them play," Lindsey said. "I think that's important.
"He's got some really good leaders on that defense. Those guys play extremely hard, too. You can have talented guys that don't play hard. Kevin demands a lot out of those guys. They play with great effort and they love playing for him, and I think that's what makes them successful."
With seven starters returning, Auburn's defense quickly picked up where it left off at the end of spring practice, Steele said, while displaying leadership and energy.
"We have to put them in the right place, but at the end of the day players play the game," Steele said. "They have to unify, which they're well on progress to do that, but they have unify and consistently do that week in and week out and down and down out, play after play after play. It remains to be seen.
"Now the thing we've got to fight is complacency. Because when you get used to something, you get complacent. We've got a lot of things that we've got to get better at. We've got a lot of things we've got to coach better. We can't get used to the routine, get complacent. We're not going to stay the same. You're not going to stay the same. You either get better or you get worse. So we've really preached that, about not getting complacent with the success we've had and then correcting the things we need to correct. That's a pretty full plate — the corrections and the complacency."
With the season opener against No. 6 Washington slated for three week from Saturday in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Auburn's coaches are encouraging the Tigers to have a sense of urgency at practice.
"They've got to go out every day and prove it," Lindsey said.
Facing the Huskies' four-year starting quarterback Jake Browning will provide a challenge for Auburn's defense. But that's a message for later in the month, said Steele, who's focusing on installation this week.
"It's not who you play," Steele said. "It's how you play."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: