Senior Auburn receiver Sal Cannella has adopted a motto for he and his position mates: You’re only as good as the next man.

That’s a charming notion for any team, but over the past year, the Tiger receivers have been forced to put that way of thinking into practice.

As fall camp has raged on, Auburn’s depth at receiver has thinned seemingly by the day. There are still 18 days until real football has to played between the Tigers and Ducks in Arlington, Texas, but Auburn now has to maturely treat every practice like it’s playing the very next day.

“We’re not hiding from it,” Cannella said of the injuries at receiver Monday. “Yeah, he went down and it’s always next man up, know what I’m saying? Who’s going to fill that spot? Who’s going to fill the speed sweeps and stuff like that. You’re always going to have another guy ready. You’re only as good as the next man, and that’s fact.

“We don’t hide from it. We don’t shy from it, because you got to be realistic, you know what I’m saying? At any point, anyone can go down at any moment. You just got to be prepared. Everyone’s got to be prepared like they’re a starter — first team, second team, third team, you got to have that mentality that you’re going to be put in as a starter at any moment, you know?”

Cannella was referring to Anthony Schwartz’s hand injury — which required surgery and leaves the blazing-quick sophomore questionable for the season opener — though the unit has been plagued by nicks and bruises for the past year.

Seniors Eli Stove and Will Hastings are both being eased back in after knee injuries; backup James Owens Moss was limited at the start of camp; true freshman Jashawn Sheffield was in a non-contact jersey Monday; sophomore Shedrick Jackson was not present at practice Monday with an undisclosed injury; and coaches have been monitoring former freshman All-SEC standout Seth Williams’ volume of reps to avoid fatigue.

That left Monday’s first-teamers as Cannella at big slot, Marquis McClain at split end and Matthew Hill at flanker. The only Tiger from that group with a reception last season is Cannella, and McClain sustained a hamstring injury last year, as well.

“I’d say it’s kind of been an emphasis on the whole group to step up,” Cannella said. “… It’s kind of been the motto throughout the whole group that each and every one of us got to step up in our own way, because each and every one of us can do good things in our own way. Everyone brings a different weapon to the table, so it’s kind of just learn from stuff the day before that we didn’t do well and just improving.”

Hill may possess the highest ceiling of any non-starter receiver from last season. A top-20 player out of Georgia in 2018, the 6-foot-1 speedster flashed his ability to stretch the field at this year’s spring game, snaring five passes for 128 yards and a pair of scores.

His teammates say he hasn’t missed a beat this fall camp.

“Matthew Hill has been doing really good behind Eli,” McClain said. “… To see everybody else that was behind Anthony and everybody, and everybody stepping up — it, honestly, it puts everybody that’s behind Anthony and Eli and Will in a hot seat, which is good, because coach Malzahn is putting more pressure on them, which makes us better.”

McClain himself said in the spring that he’s determined to crack the primary receiver rotation this fall. He has just two catches to his name in a pair of seasons at Auburn, but his big-bodied frame and athleticism lend themselves to possible improvement for his redshirt junior campaign. And if the injuries hold up across the unit, that improvement won’t just be expected by coaches; it’ll be demanded.

“Most definitely,” McClain said when asked if he talks to coaches about increased playing time. “Really, me and Coach Burns, he’s told me numerous times that I do have a window of opportunity and it’s up to me to decide what I want to do with it. Do I really want it or do I just kind of want it. I’ve just been taking like that.”

McClain added that the walk-ons have been pivotal in shoring up the depth over the past week, as well. But Auburn can’t rely on that for a whole season. So, the group, along with Burns, has conversations regularly about their top priority moving forward as the season opener looms: Taking care of their bodies.

“That’s definitely the most important thing for everybody,” McClain said.

Auburn next scrimmages Wednesday as Gus Malzahn and the offensive staff will continue to look for separation between quarterbacks Bo Nix and Joey Gatewood. The offense — even the first-teamers — struggled mightily in the first scrimmage against the Tigers’ elite defense.

Nix was turnover-prone, but the receivers dragged him down, with dropped passes leading to multiple interceptions. Malzahn admittedly was disappointed in his wideouts — and his offense as a whole.

McClain and Cannella both said the struggles were more mental than physical.

“I mean, you just got to learn from the mistakes,” Cannella said. “First scrimmage is always going to be a little bit sloppy, especially when you got two quarterbacks rotating … We’ve got to be better. Just improve. That’s the main thing; you just got to improve. You can’t take a step back. You just got to keep taking steps forward and it’s going to end up being good.”