The 2023 season was a tested one for Auburn quarterback [autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag].
After winning the quarterback battle during the summer, Finley would go on to play in just three games before a shoulder injury sidelined him for most of the season.
In those three games, however, he endured heavy criticism after throwing four interceptions to just one touchdown. Once his shoulder was back in playing shape, he elected to take a leave of absence from the program over the final four games of the season.
“I’m not really sure what triggered it, what prompted it,” Finley said Saturday when explaining his leave of absence. “I like to leave the past in the past and focus on the future. All I know is I’m a completely better person now mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and hopefully who I am right now can lead this team to a national championship.”
Now that he has returned to the team under new leadership, he is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to win the starting quarterback role. He says that it is his nature to compete, and he feels that he can contend with any quarterback in the country.
“I believe I can compete with anybody in the country, and that’s why I transferred here from LSU; I felt like I can compete with [autotag]Bo Nix[/autotag],” Finley said. “Competition doesn’t scare me. I know who I am. I know what I can do, and with the right coaches, I know who I can grow into, and hopefully, this is the place. Competition brings the best out of everybody, and if you can’t handle competition, you don’t need to be in this industry.”
Now that Auburn’s football staff includes the likes of [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], [autotag]Philip Montgomery[/autotag], and [autotag]Kent Austin[/autotag], former Auburn running back Tank Bigsby says that Finley will have the best chance to compete as opposed to his chances during the [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] years.
“All the adversity he’s been through, he keeps going. He keeps fighting. He’s looking for more. I can relate to guys like that,” Bigsby said during the NFL combine in March. “He’s great. He’s going to be great. He’ll be fine. He’s just going to get around the right guys, and I feel like he is now. The right coaches are in, and he’s going to do what he has to do.”
Finley will be in stiff competition with [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] and [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag] for the top spot on Auburn’s quarterback depth chart. In last Saturday’s A-Day game, Finley completed one pass for four yards in a rain-soaked contest.
[mm-video type=video id=01gwpsm9p4cdw1scpvrf playlist_id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gwpsm9p4cdw1scpvrf/01gwpsm9p4cdw1scpvrf-b5f2583e56b6fb9bbb8ec34d83b9adc4.jpg]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1364]