Source: Auburnsports.com 

There are a number of reasons for Auburn’s lack of production on offense. Playing without starting tailback Brad Lester certainly hasn’t helped a rushing offense that ranks ninth in the SEC.

AP: Anthony Hall
Lester’s return would be a big boost for a struggling AU offense.

But the academic suspension that’s kept Lester off the playing field for the first three games could be close to a resolution according to AU head coach Tommy Tuberville.

“I think (we’ll) hear something in the next 48 hours or so,” said Tuberville following a short practice Thursday morning.

Lester has continued to practice with the team and Tuberville says the junior is in game shape

“He could play this afternoon,” said Tuberville.

“I don’t know whether that’s a reality, dealing with what we’re dealing with. We’d like to get a little closure on it, give him some idea what he’s doing.”

Tuberville didn’t elaborate on whether a resolution to Lester’s situation would put him back on the field Saturday or even this season.

“All we’ve done is do everything we can do and let the people who make the decision make it,” he said.

Tuberville has been impressed with how quickly Shoemaker bounced back from his injury.

“He’ll have to wear a brace but he’s looked good,” said Tuberville.

Tuberville also said kicker Wes Byrum has looked good kicking off this week and may return to that role Saturday. An ankle injury limited Byrum to just field goals the last two games.

LB Tray Blackmon will be out again this week.

“He practiced a little yesterday, today it was so sore he didn’t hardly do anything,” said Tuberville. “We haven’t had a lot of improvement out of him. He’s working hard to get there. They tried different tape jobs and different methods of treatment. He’s just got one real sore weak spot that’s not coming around.”

OL King Dunlap (elbow), OL Leon Hart (shoulder) and LB Merrill Johnson (shoulder) didn’t practice this week and will not play Saturday.

Freshman DB Ryan Williams, who hasn’t played in the first three games, will be ready if needed Saturday. Auburn would like to redshirt Williams but injuries and depth have been a concern in the secondary.

“We would have played him this past week if we’d feel like we needed to play him,” said Muschamp. “The opportunity never happened, but we’ll continue to prepare him as a guy that will play in the games.”

Auburn worked out for an hour in shells Thursday morning, wrapping up preparations for NMSU. The Tigers and Aggies will play Saturday at 6 p.m. CT and the game is available on pay-per-view.

“It was a beautiful day to practice,” said Tuberville. “We had to do a lot of teamwork this week because of the offense we’re going to face.”