Spring practice served as a hands-on learning experience for Auburn’s five-star freshman quarterback, Deuce Knight.

He was one of just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster this spring, meaning the early enrollee got plenty of reps with the first team, despite being young enough to still be in high school.

Saturday’s A-Day open practice put an exclamation point on that experience, as Knight was the only scholarship quarterback available after Jackson Arnold suffered a minor leg injury during Thursday’s practice. That meant all the first team reps were Knight’s, giving the freshman a chance to make some live throws in front of a crowd.

Head coach Hugh Freeze used the words “OK” and “solid” to describe Knight’s day, as the freshman mixed in some nice throws with a couple interceptions.

“That was a little out of character for him,” Freeze said of Knight’s interceptions. “Truthfully, with the 15 days we’ve had in practice, I just hadn’t seen that.”

The interceptions mostly came down to Knight throwing the ball late, something Freeze said Knight hasn’t done all spring.

Outside of the interceptions, Knight had some positive flashes too. He made a couple nice throws to Perry Thompson and showed some ability to make plays with his and extend plays.

“I think it went well today,” Knight said. “Threw a couple of picks though. Players mess up from time to time. That comes with the game. It was a good spring overall.”

Knight described the spring overall as a learning experience, and the turnovers on Saturday might have been part of that. He told reporters that nothing was different on Saturday, but the speed of the game was something he needs to keep adjusting to.

“I’d rather get them out of the way during practice than in the game,” Knight said. “That’s the whole point of practice. Defense throws a couple of different things out there. We’ve just got guys on the other side. If the defense is not doing anything during practice, there’s something wrong. I want them to be playing good ball.”

Spring ball is just the beginning of the learning process for Knight. The summer will consist of him continuing to build a connection with his receivers along with getting in shape for his first fall camp at the end of the summer.

He may still be behind in the competition for the starting job, but Knight seemed to understand the significance of the extended reps he got during the spring. And despite some up and down moments on A-Day, his coach was satisfied.

“He’ll look at the film, and there’ll be things that he wished he would have done differently,” Freeze said. “But that’s nothing like that experience for him to help prepare him for the fall.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m