JD focusing on teammates and team this spring
AUBURN | There are a number of reasons Javaris Davis remained in school for his senior season but the most important one wasn’t about himself or his future as a football player.
It was about his teammates and Auburn.
“My goal is to make everybody around me better in every way possible and do whatever I’ve got to do help my team win every game,” Davis said.
That team-first mentality was on display the first day of spring practice Monday. Davis was wearing an orange non-contact jersey, and it wasn’t because of an injury.
“They want me to be more of a coach out there and help the young guys,” Davis explained. “They already know what I can do. I’m still working on myself, my craft, but our main focus this spring is to get more depth in the backend so I’m trying to help the younger guys get more comfortable so they can help us in the season.”
Davis has done plenty in his career at Auburn totaling 107 tackles and six interceptions in 36 games including 24 starts. But he has been slowed by a string of minor injuries missing four games over the past two seasons including one last year when he finished with 41 tackles, eight pass breakups and two interceptions.
Good numbers, but not good enough for Davis.
“I wouldn’t say it was bad but I feel like it wasn’t my best,” he said. “It’s just because a lot of stuff happened, a lot of ups and downs. I feel like that’s why I came back, to prove to everybody that I am a good corner. I feel like I am one of the best players in the country but I have to prove it and I’m going to prove it. I had a couple of injuries and missed games so I really didn’t want to just leave on that note.”
Davis has played both nickel and cornerback during his career, but is working mainly at corner along with junior Noah Igbinoghene so far this spring. Christian Tutt is working at nickel, and that could be how they line up in the secondary this fall along with seniors Daniel Thomas and Jeremiah Dinson at safety.
Davis singled out Tutt and fellow sophomore Roger McCreary as two underclassmen stepping up this spring.
“I came back for a reason and a lot of others came back for the same reason I did, and I feel like we have the talent to accomplish anything,” Davis said. “It’s always good to have experience in the backend and we have that. And I feel like when you have a good DB group, usually the defense will be good.”
