The Auburn Tigers just finished up week two of spring practice and the staff is trying to get a feel for the quarterback situation. Many have speculated that it will ultimately be [autotag]Zach Calzada[/autotag]’s job when it is all said and done. However, he hasn’t been able to really get on the field to practice with the team.
On Saturday, head coach [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] provided an update on the former Texas A&M quarterback. Calzada transferred from the Aggies to Auburn following the 2021 college football season. He has been sidelined thus far and Harsin stated that we wouldn’t see him on the practice field until after spring ball comes to a close on Apr. 9 with the “A-Day” spring game.
“Yeah, it’s going to be after spring,” said Harsin. “They’re going to keep him in the brace. He wants to, and he can spin it – so he’s been out there and that ball jumps out of his hand. He stands back there and he’s getting every mental rep he can possibly get. And I know it’s killing him, you can see in his eyes. He wants to compete, he wants to play and you know he feels like he can.”
Thus far it has been the [autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag], [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag], and [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag] show in practice. Recently redshirt freshman quarterback Dematrius Davis put his name in the transfer portal. As far as how the progression of Calzada’s recovery is going, Harsin stated they won’t rush him along.
“We’re not going to put him in a situation where that’s going to slow down the progress of his healing'” Harsin said. “He’s doing everything he can to get every mental rep, in the meetings paying attention. So come summertime when we get into those player-run practices, he’ll be ready for that. And then come fall camp, he’ll get his reps, he’ll be full-go and we’ll see where he’s at.”
At this point in time, Calzada has done everything that he can do right now according to Harsin. He will be behind some of the other quarterbacks as far as on the field is concerned, but Calzada is getting all the mental reps that will hopefully help him out in the fall when he can give it a go again.
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On3 provided Harsin’s press conference on their YouTube channel:
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