A big part of the team’s struggles has been quarterback play. QB Payton Thorne was benched and reinserted as the starter and has now been dealing with a shoulder injury. The QB suffered the injury against Vanderbilt, but recently told reporters that he probably could have played last week if necessary.

Hugh Freeze hinted during Auburn’s bye week that a quarterback change was possible, and he gave more context to those comments during his Monday press conference. Starting quarterback Payton Thorne did not practice during the bye week due to a shoulder injury suffered against Vanderbilt,