Auburn’s leading returning tackler is back.
After sitting out the first five practices of spring, upcoming senior safety Rudy Ford returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time since Auburn’s season ended at the Birmingham Bowl in December.
He had been suffering an undisclosed illness, but Ford was in full uniform as the Tigers practiced live with full tackling for the first time this spring.
“It’s good [to have him back],” said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. “We have a lot of information on Rudy. Our coaches know what they’re getting with him. Even though he was out the first five practices, it gave those younger guys more reps, now he’s back out there. That leadership — especially in our league — experience and leadership, they just mean so much. When you get a guy like that back on one side of the football, it helps in all areas.”
Ford racked up 118 tackles in 2015, 22 more than the second-leading tackler, now-departed linebacker Kris Frost.
The other four out of the top five tacklers from that season — Frost, Cassanova McKinzy, Blake Countess and Jonathan Jones — have graduated and entered their names into the NFL Draft, leaving Ford to assume a load of leadership and responsibility in their steads.
But even something as relatively meaningless as suiting up for a spring practice has left an impact on the rest of the secondary.
“Just having that weapon back there for us and knowing that he’s progressively getting better each practice, that he’s getting back into the flow of things, it’s a reassuring feeling as well,” said safety Nick Ruffin.
Ruffin had been taking first-team reps at safety along with Stephen Roberts, but he wasn’t left to his own devices. According to Ruffin, Ford was aching to get back on the field, but he did whatever he could to help his team without being in uniform.
“You can kinda see the tension on his face,” Ruffin said. “He loves being with his teammates, he loves being around us, loves being on the field. It was hard watching him sit there and have to sit out, to just kinda stand on the side, but he handled it well. He coached us up on the sideline and always made sure that we understood if he saw something that we needed to improve on, he was there to tell us. He was still very engaged.”
While Ford had to shake off the rust of not practicing in a while, the rest of the Tigers had to follow suit after taking a week off for spring break.
According to Malzahn, however, they did just fine.
“There was a little bit there probably midway through practice, but they were excited to practice, coming out there, and that’s what you look for,” Malzahn said. “Their attitude was good, but it’s to be expected anytime you’re off, what 11, 12 days, there’s going to be a little bit of rust. But our guys’ energy was good, and they were flying around.”
That includes the quarterbacks, who Malzahn noted were ‘crisp’ in the individual periods.
Auburn will begin scrimmages on Saturday as Malzahn gradually begins to prepare his team for A-Day on April 9.
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