Auburn junior defensive lineman Justin Rogers spent the offseason cautioning freshman defensive back Kayin Lee not to walk around thinking he’s just some freshman on a SEC football team.

“K Lee is a guy,” Rogers told media members on Aug. 11. “I tell him all the time, ‘You don’t need to walk around here like a freshman because you’re going to play.’.”

And Rogers was right – Lee has played plenty in his first two games with the Tigers.

The unfortunate part, however, is that Lee hasn’t had much of a choice but to see the field as Auburn has been without veteran cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett. Pritchett was said to be questionable heading into the UMass matchup on Sept. 2 and has yet to return to action despite warming up with the team last Saturday at Cal. The specifics of Pritchett’s injury are unknown.

Coming into his senior campaign, Pritchett was highly regarded as he was slated to make up one half of Auburn’s elite cornerback tandem, joining fellow senior D.J. James.

In May, Jim Nagy, executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, took to Twitter to call retaining Pritchett and James Hugh Freeze’s “best recruiting job” at Auburn. Nagy added that both cornerbacks received senior bowl invites and were given “fringe Top-100 grades” by several NFL teams.

Needless to say, Pritchett is a guy the Tigers prefer not to play without.

But if being without Pritchett is a must, Lee has proved he can help limit the effects of Pritchett’s absence.

Considering he’s just a rookie, opposing quarterbacks are typically quick to pick on Lee. And such was the case in Berkeley on Saturday night as Cal quarterback Ben Finley targeted Lee during Cal’s very first offensive snap – only for Lee to record the first pass breakup of his college career.

“When they tried me off the rip, coach Crime was telling me that it was going to happen all game because I’m a freshman,” Lee told reporters Monday. “That was pretty exciting. I wish I could have made an even better play on the ball. Knowing I did my job was exciting and just being able to go out there and play fast.”

Late in the third quarter, the Golden Bears tried Lee again – this time with Sam Jackson V at quarterback.

Jackson was looking for Cal receiver Brian Hightower on a short throw to the right, but Lee was there to break up the connection.

“I like that. I like when people take shots,” Lee said. “It gives me a chance to be able to show the world what I can do and what I train for.”

Lee was rated a 4-star prospect out of Cedar Grove High School in Ellenwood, Ga. and picked the Tigers over other offers, including Georgia and Ohio State.

After flipping to the Tigers, Lee’s training started in January as he enrolled at Auburn early, giving him a leg up as he went through both spring and fall camp with the Tigers.

“It was very important for me being able to get in early, get accustomed to the playbook and the feeling of college,” Lee said Monday. “That was a big bonus coming into college.”

Lee coming to The Plains early was the gift that kept on giving.

Not only did Lee get a head start on the playbook and the day-to-day life of being a college athlete, but enrolling early also gave Lee more opportunities to learn from the veterans on Auburn’s roster – especially guys like Pritchett and James.

“I talk to all of those guys every day. I’m taking bits and pieces from their game every single day in practice, how they study film and what they’re looking at in film and what we’re looking at in practice as a whole defensive corps,” Lee said. “It just helps me be able to take my game to another level being around those guys each and every day.”

And as badly as the Tigers might be missing Pritchett, who Freeze is hoping can go this week against Samford, folks should be thankful Lee is in the mix to fill the void because he gets it.

Lee isn’t setting out to snatch Pritchett’s job out from under him or seeking any type of praise, the freshman is simply looking to do what he can to fill the Nehemiah Pritchett-sized hole in Auburn’s defensive backfield.

“He just tells me to do my job. He knows what type of player I am, so he’s not really saying too much. He just lets me go out there and ball and be free,” Lee said of Pritchett.

“He knows what I have to bring to step up behind him, so I just have to fulfill that spot.”