Little says Auburn football is just around the corner like the return of Auburn’s Tiger Talk radio show, which returned on Monday evening with head football coach Hugh Freeze, head men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl and head men’s golf coach Nick Clinard all making appearances.

During Freeze’s time on the headset, he took the time to discuss what he saw from Auburn’s closed scrimmage on Saturday, a shuffling along the offensive line and a notable injury.

Here are some notes and quotes from Freeze’s time on Tiger Talk on Monday:

• “I’m excited. I like this team. I’m having fun coaching them. I like our staff. I feel good about where we are after two weeks of camp,” Freeze said when asked about for his general thoughts as the Tigers approach their season opener.
• Freeze says Auburn is dealing with “a lot of nagging injuries that we’ve gotta hopefully get well pretty quick.”
• “There’s no question, with the 2024 class, that we’ve bettered ourselves,” Freeze said.
• Freeze says Auburn will have a “big test” this week when the scout team is unveiled on Wednesday: “It’s real. That will be a big hurdle that every team will face this week.”
• “The scrimmage Saturday was a tale of two halves, really. Offensively, we looked really, really good to start the scrimmage. Then, as it progressed, we didn’t finish quite as sharp on that side and I thought the other side did. We did not tackle well, which is a concern, for sure — particularly in the secondary.”
• Asked about the offensive line, Freeze said he thought the group did well in the scrimmage but that they were still losing some 1-on-1s in pass protection.
• When asked about the offensive line, Freeze said Auburn is still moving around some pieces trying to find the perfect starting front: “We’re shuffling it around a little bit this week. I think we’re going to try to move Percy (Lewis) inside and (Dillon Wade) back outside and see what that looks like.” Previously, Lewis was playing left tackle and Wade was playing left guard.
• Asked which position unit had made the most progress in fall camp, Freeze went with the receiver room, while also mentioning the defensive line. Freeze added that the secondary is an area of concern for him due to lack of depth.
• Freeze said that Auburn linebacker Austin Keys suffered a sprained MCL during the first scrimmage on Aug. 10 and has been out since. “We expect a return for him, hopefully, by Game 1.”
• Freeze said Auburn’s receivers had a really competitive week during the last week of fall camp. “They’re elevating each other’s play… Everybody is making plays.”
• Asked about the backup quarterback battle, Freeze went on to name redshirt freshman Hank Brown as Auburn’s backup quarterback behind Payton Thorne.
• On starting quarterback Payton Thorne: “I love what I see from Payton right now. I know he’s gotta perform, I know he’s gotta earn everybody’s trust and all of that, but I think people are going to be pleased.”