AUBURN | TD Moultry was praised with his play during spring practice, and this time he’s hoping to carry that over into the fall.

A year ago, he wasn’t able to do that and saw his playing time diminish as Nick Coe won the starting job at Buck.

“TD, I thought, had a really good spring,” Auburn defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. “The challenge for TD is — a year ago he had a really good spring and sort of hit a little rough spot in fall camp and in the fall — we just have to avoid that. We have to guard ourselves against that and not let that happen.”

Heading into his junior season, Moultry is determined to make 2019 his breakout season.

“I’m really confident,” Moultry said. “I don’t think anybody can stop me. The only person who can stop T.D. is T.D.”

A lack of confidence may have been the biggest thing holding Moultry back last season. He ended up 21st on the team with 11 tackles along with 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks.

“We’ve had some real honest and frank conversations about it because really that first game last year against Washington was a fiasco for him,” Garner said. “It was really indicative of the type of camp he had last year. He was dealing with some stuff personally and there are just some things he’s got to learn. That’s a sign of maturity, just learning how to put things in the back of his mind and not let one bad play turn into two, turn into three, turn into four. Now you’ve had a bad ballgame whereas if you made a mistake let’s put that behind us and move forward and learn from it and see what we can do better.

“I think he will. I really think he will. He’s trying to be a leader. He’s trying to take ownership. I’m pleased with the want-to. We just have to put it together.”

Moultry said the two biggest areas he’s working to improve from last season is staying onside and his get-off.

"I feel like I got way much better than last spring,” he said. “I make sure I get off the ball. That’s the first thing coach G was telling me, to get off the ball and use my hands and make people scared of my speed so I can go inside. So I think I got a lot better getting off the ball. That’s the first thing I think about: getting off the ball.

“Last year I struggled getting off the ball. I had problems staying onside, but with scrimmage and practice I make sure I’m onside and I’m not dropping the ball and I’m seeing the ball before it’s snapped.”

Auburn begins preseason practice Friday. The 2019 season kicks off Aug. 31 against Oregon in Arlington, Texas.