Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has been pleased with how Jackson Arnold has taken care of the ball, as the quarterback has yet to throw an interception through five games. But Freeze also wants to see the junior signal-caller play with a little more confidence.
"Truthfully, when we watch the film together, I’d love for him to be a little freer, particularly with the playmakers that we have," Freeze said on Monday. "And there’s times, I think, he probably would be if we could hold up just maybe another half a second or a second. But yeah, you want to take care of the football first and foremost, and him doing that as poorly as we’ve played still kept us in a game and gave us a chance to win, so there’s a lot of positives from that, but certainly don’t want him to play out of any fear."
If anything, Arnold has been too careful with the ball, often holding onto it too long and taking a sack. In the loss to Oklahoma two weeks ago, the Sooners sacked their former quarterback nine times, including three straight on the Tigers' final possession.
Is there a difference between the Arnold that Freeze and his staff see in practice and the one in games? The head coach says it differs depending on what drills they are doing.
“A mixture, to be candid," Freeze said. "If you’re talking skelly, free as can be, if you’re talking the other, it pretty much a bunch mirrors the game when it’s good on good. First progression and second progression are pretty good, then he becomes a little hesitant. But we’re working through that, believing him strongly still. I’ve got to do a better job, along with Kent (Austin) and Jesse (Stone), of coaching him to be freer and when our guys are in some one-on-ones, give them a chance with catchable balls.”