AUBURN | The road back for Champ Anthony is almost complete.

Auburn’s junior cornerback suffered a broken leg against Arkansas Sept. 21, which required surgery.

He missed the remainder of the season, winter workouts and spring practice, but is expected to be released for full workouts shortly.

“I’ll be out there fall camp. I’ll be cleared in May. So I’ll be with the team during team runs and all that,” said Anthony. “God has blessed me to be able to be strong and just be able to make it through this without any hiccups.

“Everything just went smooth. I can’t wait until I get back on that field.”

Anthony used his time off the field wisely, taking on a bigger role as a leader of the secondary and the team.

“That’s just me, personally,” said Anthony. “I just love to mold the minds of young people, even the older guys. Just wherever I can help, I will. I can’t help on the field so I just helped trying to get everybody’s minds right.

“It’s easier to see things when you’re standing on the sidelines. I just try to nip stuff in the bud and help out the team where I can.”

Anthony also got to sit back and watch one of the best competitions on the team as AU’s defensive backs and wide receivers got after each other during spring drills.

“The defensive back room is going to be great,” he said. “The offense really helped us get better this spring. The game is going to be real boring for us just because we see so much talent every single day.”

Auburn opens the season at Baylor Aug. 29.