Auburn turns to Deas, Riddick as Atkins suspension shakes up linebacker room

Auburn will be without All-American linebacker Xavier Atkins when it faces Georgia this weekend.

Head coach Alex Golesh confirmed during his Monday press conference that Atkins will not be available this weekend, with his status to be reassessed following the Georgia game. With Atkins out of the equation this weekend, defensive coordinator DJ Durkin is looking to the rest of the room to step up.

In his eyes, though, there’s no lack of quality in the room.

“I always feel like, in that room, those guys are considered starters,” Durkin said. “I know that there's only so many who can get on the field at the same time and get the reps. But they're all considered starters in our mind. Obviously, their work will kind of go up now, and I think it'll be great.”

Atkins and sophomore Elijah Melendez have been the two mainstay starters at the position this season. Durkin is looking to sophomore Bryce Deas and junior De’Marcus Riddick to step up against Georgia.

“Bryce has been playing a lot of football for us this year,” Durkin said. “De'Marcus' reps have been a little bit down. But he has played a lot of football in the past and played well for us. We feel really good about those guys.”

Through five games, Deas had 15 tackles, but played 53 snaps two weeks ago against Tennessee.

“He's continued to play more and more and more,” Golesh said. “This goes back to a year ago. I think, regardless of the circumstance, it's been really important for Bryce to continue to come along and continue to get better. Bryce every single week has continued to get better. I've been really proud of him.”

Meanwhile, Riddick underwent offseason shoulder surgery and has continued to work his way back.

“This entire building are all fans of De'Marcus Riddick, and we're slowly but surely seeing him get better and better, and the better is truly more confident coming back,” Golesh said. And what he had to go through to even get back is a credit to him and his mental toughness, and again just him gaining the confidence back.”

The plan entering the year was to increase Riddick’s role as the season progresses. He’s already played significant snaps on special teams, while continuing to get some reps on defense. Once healthy, though, Golesh is excited about the potential Riddick brings to the defense.

“When he is healthy, he is a special, special player,” Golesh said. He's really close to getting back to healthy, yet at the same time confident that he's back to that same player.”

Auburn faces Georgia on Oct. 17 at 2:30 p.m. CST. The game will air on ESPN.