When the Auburn football team took the field for the first practice of fall camp on Friday afternoon, a new era officially began.
And although the faces of those in coaching apparel were new, most of the ones inside the helmets were not.
For the Auburn defense, Friday's practice was a day of moving on from last season's 3-9 disappointment and focusing on the near future.
"We've put last year behind us," defensive back Jonathan Mincy said. "We're ready for the new season to start so we could prove to everybody that we can be a great team."
From the senior leaders to the true freshmen, the focus was on an entire team looking to rebound from 2012.
Head coach Gus Malzahn said the practice was divided up two distinct periods--a fast-paced one that focused on the returning players and one that slowed down for quality attention to Auburn's newest players.
Senior defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker said he and the rest of his teammates on the defensive line were putting that same emphasis on togetherness at the start of fall camp.
"Our mindset is that we don't have No. 1's," Whitaker said. "Everybody is for each other. Everybody is rooting each other on, cheering for each other. We're trying to come together and do something special."
Whitaker also spoke about the time spent on the younger guys on the line, which includes highly touted freshmen Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams.
"You need the young guys," Whitaker said. "Like I was saying with some of the older guys, when you leave here, there's only team to watch...only one school to root for...it's Auburn. So it's important to see these guys progress."
One of the older players that were not in action for Friday's first practice was defensive back Demetruce McNeal. The senior from College Park, Ga. watched from the sidelines on Friday without a helmet, but the team expects him back on the field soon.
"He's got a medical issue he's working through," Malzahn said. ""It shouldn't be much longer and we really expect him to make a full recovery."
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