Today Auburn began the switch to a two-a-day practice schedule as the team practiced in shorts and pads in both the morning and the afternoon.
The team had a different kind of position battle with thunderstorms forcing the players and coaches inside for the majority of practice.
Wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said that having the new indoor facility is useful and the players are getting better at dealing with the fickle Auburn weather.
"(The players) are getting better at not letting things like that distract, because indoors, outdoors it shouldn't matter," Taylor said after the morning practice.
The theme of fall practice so far has been competition, and the players have stepped up as they fight for the large number of jobs up for grabs.
The team has been consistently praised for its energy and intensity in practices thus far and Taylor credits this to the uncertainties that litter every facet of a team trying to find its identity.
"It's a different mindset in thinking for a player to practice knowing he has a chance to play rather than waiting for somebody to get hurt before you have a chance to play," Taylor said. ""I've never seen this sense of urgency as far as the details. It's amazing to see these guys fight for it."
For the wide receivers coach, the competition is vital to his search for players he can trust.
Senior wide receiver Emory Blake is the unquestioned leader of a young group of receivers after being named to the 2012 Biletnikoff Award watch list for the nation's best receiver.
In three years at Auburn, Blake has not caught more than 40 passes in a season, but his speed and 17 yards/catch average last year all but lock him in as the Tigers' deep threat.
As for the rest of the receiving corps, Taylor said he has also been impressed with senior Travante Stallworth and sophomore Jaylon Denson's leadership as well as sophomore speedster Trovon Reed's work ethic.
Taylor said sophomore Quan Bray is another guy who has shown flashes that he is the guy to line up opposite Blake when September comes.
This year, the receivers face the difficult prospect of not only competing with each other for minutes, but learning new offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler's multi-dimensional offense.
"It's three times the learning they've had before just on formations alone," Taylor said.
The details Taylor mentioned before are necessary for Auburn's receivers this year.
Loeffler's offense will be more pro-style in that it must respond to the coverages it sees on the other side of the ball and know every possible scenario.
"He's a really intelligent guy, he really pays attention to the details," Taylor said.
"Our kids right now know every opportunity to stop the clock in the two-minute drill."
For newcomers freshman Ricardo Louis and red-shirt freshman Melvin Ray, the transition has had its challenges.
As Louis tries to adjust to the faster pace of college football in his first year with the team, Ray is trying to adjust from being out of football for the past few years.
A member of the 2008 signing class for the University of Alabama, Ray was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and played minor league baseball before deciding to return to the grid iron.
Taylor says Louis and Ray have all the physical tools to succeed, but for now it's simply about learning the game again.
"They're at a loss right now with (not) knowing all the intricacies of the offense," Taylor said. "What we got to get them better at is pad leverage, speed of the game."
Going into Wednesday's scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Taylor says he'd like as many wide receivers on the field September 1 as he could trust.
For now, it's about finding out who exactly that is.
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