Tampa Bay, Fla (EETV)-
Auburn continued preparation for the Outback Bowl against No.18 Minnesota as the team practiced at the University of Tampa on Sunday.
Head Coach Gus Malzahn had the team out at the Division II school for the third time since the Tigers had been in the sunshine state for the on-site practice.
Running back/ wide receiver Jay Jay Wilson practiced for the first time this bowl season since being out earlier in the week for personal reasons. He was in uniform and with the rest of the wide receivers during the open portion of Auburn’s practice.
Three players were in orange non-contact jerseys during Sunday’s practice; offensive lineman Austin Troxell, who is recovering from ACL surgery, running back Mark Anthony-Richards and long snapper Bill Taylor.
Malzahn said that the team would not run any plays while the media was present but still ran a few formations in case of, “worst case scenarios” that the Tigers could see from the Gophers of the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Malzahn had also said earlier in the week at the joint press conference with Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck that this was a, “business trip,” and that his players were motivated by the loss in the Peach Bowl to UCF in the 2017 season.
Kam Martin echoed that saying, “I feel like we’ve been practicing real hard, we’re really focused with taking care of our business on the first and I feel like all the guys are locked in.”
“We came here to get our tenth win, we didn’t come here to party or do anything else,” Martin said. “We came here to get our tenth win and that’s all that were here for.”
The Tigers will practice again on Monday and then a scheduled walk through will be on Tuesday in the sense of game preparation. Auburn will also be taking part in a Beach Day on Monday at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort.
