Auburn center Tate Johnson will have surgery on his elbow Thursday, head coach Bryan Harsin announced Monday. The surgery will keep Johnson out at least six to eight weeks and could cost him the entire season.
“We’ll work through replacing him and what we’re going to do on the offensive line this week in practice,” Harsin said.
Johnson’s injury, which occurred in Saturday’s game against Missouri, cuts into an Auburn center rotation that was already thin on depth.
“It was unfortunate, what happened to Tate,” Harsin said. “Kind of on a scramble and the guy just hit his elbow - that happens. So he got banged up pretty good, obviously.”
Johnson was seen going into a medical tent and later the locker room during the game and upon returning to the field, did not reenter the game. In the postgame press conference, Harsin did not yet have an update on the center.
Prior to the season, presumed starter Nick Brahms retired from football following career-long injury troubles. Now, with Johnson out, Auburn will have to start its original third-string center, 6-foot-3, 313-pound senior Jalil Irvin.
“We lost Nick and then Tate came in and stepped up in the role to be the center,” said quarterback Robby Ashford. “Losing him, that’s big.”
Ahead of Auburn’s Saturday game against LSU, Irvin is listed as the starting center on Auburn’s depth chart, with Avery Jernigan, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound sophomore, listed as the second-string center.
“Jalil came in and played,” Harsin said. “We’ll move some guys around. We’ll take a look at it. Avery Jernigan has also played center for us, so we’ve got to figure that out with the best five.”
Through the week of practice, Harsin and his staff will evaluate the best way to proceed following another setback at the center position.
“There might be some rotation in there,” Harsin said. “But that will be what we do come Tuesday and Wednesday, just really trying to sort that out and figure it out by Thursday so we can get quality reps on that final practice on Friday before we go into the game.”
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
