After losing the battle with the offense in Saturday's scrimmage, the Auburn defense went back to work on Sunday afternoon.
Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said he gave the younger players a lot of reps in Saturday's scrimmage, and mental mistakes were their undoing against a constantly improving offense.
"Overall, from the young guys, I thought it was very, very iffy," Johnson said on Sunday. "Right now, we are making so many mental mistakes and not enough good plays. We need to see good execution to find out who can play defense for us."
Johnson said the staff held out some key players on Saturday in an effort to find some more clarity in position battles. Although the execution was off, Johnson said there were some bright spots in the scrimmage.
"The effort was good, the tackling was a lot better," Johnson said. "We chart 'LOAFs,' or lack of finishes, missed assignments and any pre-snap or after the whistle penalties. And we improved on those a lot from the first scrimmage. Overall, in the big picture, we definitely improved...but we still have got a long way to go."
Johnson credits some of the mental mistakes to what he called "overloading" the defense with playbook installation during the first week of fall camp. During the Tigers' first few non-contact sessions, most of the defensive work was based on introducing new sets.
Because the defense has not had a chance to get reps with some of these new formations, mental mistakes abounded in Saturday's scrimmage. Johnson says the defense will focus on getting more reps and cutting down the errors during the upcoming week of practice.
While some young players struggled on Saturday, others managed to grab the attention of Johnson.
"The two ends, Elijah (Daniel) and Carl (Lawson), continue to show that they're capable of mixing it up at this level," Johnson said. "They haven't made any big plays yet, but they are physically playing well and holding their own in the box. I think they're coming along well enough that we're going to be able to play those guys and hopefully early."
Johnson also specifically mentioned cornerbacks Ryan White and Kamryn Melton as two more players who stepped up while the first teamers sat out.
In addition to his duties as defensive coordinator, Johnson also coaches linebackers, and he gave an update on those two position battles in his 4-2-5 defense.
Johnson said senior Jake Holland has improved since spring practice and "has an edge" over Kris Frost for the starting middle linebacker job.
"I feel like Jake Holland has had two really good scrimmages," Johnson said. "Everybody else has been inconsistent."
At the will linebacker position, Johnson highlighted Cassanova McKinzy as a leader, but he realistically wants to be able to rotate four or five players across the long SEC season.
"Cassanova continues to make the best linebacker plays and do some things we really can't coach," Johnson said. "There's still some good competition at the linebacker spots, and I think some of that over-installation is what's causing those mental mistakes that we're seeing."
Johnson closed his press conference with a pair of injury updates--Demetruce McNeal and Justin Garrett.
McNeal, who has not participated in fall camp due to an infection and subsequent surgery, is expected to be back on the field sometime this week.
Garrett, a leader in the race for Johnson's "Star" position--the extra defensive back in the 4-2-5, left Saturday's scrimmage with a walking boot on. Johnson says Garrett did not practice on Sunday, and he was unsure whether the injury could possibly be a serious one.
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