Finally, the Auburn Tigers are back in the football facility as fall camp begins Thursday. Practice will begin around 9:30 with an open viewing period for the media.

Beforehand, head coach Hugh Freeze will give a press conference starting at 8:30 to prepare for the preseason. Follow along below for live updates from his session:

— Hugh Freeze opens in expressing his excitement to start fall camp. Remarks on the importance of spring practice and recruiting, but now it’s time to piece it all together.

— “We’re excited to see how we handle the mental and physical toughness,” Freeze said. Adds that he felt the team got bigger and stronger during summer workouts.

— When asked about the availability of running back Jarquez Hunter, Freeze said the situation will continue to be addressed internally and not discussed publicly.

— Freeze said this is the “most uncomfortable” he’s been heading into fall camp. Says he feels anxious that he might be a little behind in evaluation considering all the new faces on the team, emphasizing adding a new quarterback late.

— “To rebuild a roster, we did the right thing. Now we’ve gotta hurry up and go catch up,” Freeze said.

— On the addition of Northwestern offensive lineman transfer Dylan Senda: “He’s a big, good looking dude. And he’s a freshman. I think we’ve added a guy that’s got a long-term future here.”

— On his relationship with transfer QB Payton Thorne: “It’s impossible not to visit with Payton because he demands it,” Freeze says. Adds that he’s comfortable with the relationship he’s building with Thorne, but still hasn’t see Thorne in action.

— On the wide receiver room: “I do think we’ve improved that room in recruiting,” Freeze said. Added that he also believes some of the returners have the potential to be better than what they’ve shown to date.

— Early in camp, Freeze hopes to see the quarterbacks compete and wants to see who the team rallies around the most. Says that Robby Ashford, Payton Thorne and Holden Geriner will rotate evenly through the opening five practices.

— On recent recruiting success: “I think I’ve talked to most of the (call of) 2025 guys this week… I feel pretty good about the momentum we have right now.” Adds that the recruiting process is never over in the SEC.

— “I’ve always felt I was pretty decent at recruiting and I had a good plan… I think it’s easy to recruit at Auburn. It’s one of the elite teams in the country,” Freeze said, adding he’s still adjusting to the new world of college football, which includes the transfer portal and NIL.

— Which group excites Freeze the most: “If there’s a room that really excites me, I’m really excited about our O-Line… Obviously the quarterback room, you’re excited to see how they compete.”

— On the message he’s trying to send to the team and what he wants to see from the guys: “The commitment it takes to win today. It’s that simple to me. Do we have the toughness through the commitment we’ve declared to win today? And then stack the days… That’s the secret sauce.”

– Freeze said part of camp is going to be tearing people down, but said that’s where success comes from as he’ll bring people back up. Freeze wants to keep Auburn fun, and joked that he hopes his players will say the same at the end of fall camp.

– “I loved our running back room in the spring…I think we’ve got good players there,” Hugh Freeze says on a potential running back room without Jarquez Hunter.

– Freeze gives an injury update: running back Brian Battie will be limited but will still practice. Freeze says a few others will be limited but doesn’t expect anyone to be held out of practice.

– Going into the first game of the year, Hugh Freeze says Auburn may not have a sure-fire starter at that point. This seems like it could be a fluid situation.