After struggling in Saturday’s mock game, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said the Tigers’ freshmen receivers would be challenged this week during practice.

“If we’re going to have this free-rotation mindset, that’s got to change,” Freeze said of the younger receivers struggling with missed assignments. “They’re going to be challenged today with that.”

Asked how the young wide receivers had responded to the challenge, Freeze seemed optimistic.

“Yesterday, obviously, is a very, very important day in preparation and in last night’s film we had three (missed assignments), so that’s not terrible,” Freeze said.

The three missed assignments on Tuesday were half of what were committed during Saturday’s mock game.

“You’d like for it to be zero. It was all three, young kids,” Freeze continued. “But today is a chance to clean that up.”

In his meeting with the media on Tuesday, Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said he liked the response he was seeing from the “Freeze Four,” which is made up of Bryce Cain, Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons and Perry Thompson.

“They’re guys that… they’re not going to get too high or too low, I feel like. Which is good,” Thorne said. “I think they’re doing a really good job and are on a trajectory that will put them there by the time the middle of the season comes.”

While Thorne is expecting the freshmen receivers to need a bit more time to get their feet squarely under themselves, the expectation of Freeze and Auburn’s coaches is that they’re ready to go come Saturday’s season-opener against Alabama A&M.

“I expect them to be ready. That’s the expectation and I think they have to embrace that,” Freeze said during the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday. “They have to be hard on themselves and our have to be hard on themselves.”

Of course, should Freeze or first-year offensive coordinator Derrick Nix want to throw something at the freshmen that wasn’t in the initial game plan, the young receivers may need a little extra help on the sideline.

But as far as what’s been discussed as part of the game plan leading up to the game?

“I think the expectation should be that they, by Saturday, we should be understanding it totally and that will be the expectations,” Freeze said. “Does that always happen at every position? No. But I was pleased yesterday. I thought they had a fairly good grasp on what we’re trying to do for this week.”