When Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze addressed the media on Friday morning, he and the Tigers had six practices under their belt.

Freeze went on to say he’s been “really pleased” with Auburn’s start to fall camp, admitting that while the effort has been great, things have been “a little too chippy and unprotective” at times.

“We had two days in a row where some really scary things, when you watch the film, that easily could have hurt somebody,” Freeze said.

When asked to elaborate, Freeze clarified that when he said “chippy,” he didn’t necessarily mean it was “extra curricular stuff.”

Freeze says he only remembers a pair of “extra curricular” incidents and says they “weren’t terrible.”

Instead, Freeze was referring to stuff that was happening during plays.

“Whether it’s an inside run and [the] defensive line runs a twist and everyone gets tangled up and now there’s five guys on the ground on top of each other — a running back going through the hole and that happens and it’s that far from hitting the bottom of his leg or his ankle somewhere,” Freeze said.

One-on-one drills with the defensive backs and wide receivers present issues with that, too, Freeze says.

“The one-on-ones are always a challenge to get the DBs to stay off, when they’re in trail position, to stay off the back of the receivers,” Freeze said. “That’s kinda how [KeAndre Lambert-Smith] got his ankle.”

Lambert-Smith appeared to have rolled his ankle during Tuesday’s practice and was seen doing limited work in the indoor facility during Wednesday’s practice viewing.

“We’re not that deep in places and so we’ve kind of stressed that heavily the last three days of trying to practice cleaner without people on the ground. And it has gotten a little better,” Freeze said Friday.

That said, Freeze knows physical practices are a must in the SEC.

It’s just a matter of finding a good balance between practicing with intensity and practicing with too much intensity.

“I think everyone’s dealing with that to a certain extent and me just trying to figure out exactly how to approach that, particularly with two scrimmages coming up, and it’s not the easiest thing,” Freeze said. “I don’t know that I have the answer.”

On Saturday, Auburn will take to Jordan-Hare Stadium for a practice that will likely involve more live reps.

However, when asked if the Tigers were going to scrimmage on Saturday, Auburn’s head coach was hesitant to call it that.

“We sure need to tackle some,” Freeze said.

But Freeze is left second guessing after seeing Wednesday’s news that Texas’ starting running back CJ Baxter will miss the 2024 season after suffering a leg injury during fall camp.

“That keeps you up at night,” Freeze said, adding that some of Saturday’s practice will be “live,” though some players won’t be participating in the live portion.

“I just don’t know that you can win in this league without having some physical practices in camp,” Freeze said. “And it scares me to death, truthfully, because we need to stay healthy.”