He gone
Auburn linebacker allowed to rejoin team
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Brandon Marcello | bmarcello@al.com By Brandon Marcello | bmarcello@al.com
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on May 28, 2014 at 5:06 PM, updated May 28, 2014 at 5:07 PM
DESTIN, Florida -- Linebacker Anthony Swain has been reinstated with the team at Auburn and will rejoin the team for workouts, coach Gus Malzahn confirmed Wednesday.
Swain missed all 15 practices in the spring due to a non-injury issue, which was cleared up late last week. Malzahn did not go into specifics on why Swain was not with the team in the spring.
"He'll be back, probably Monday," Malzahn said.
The rising junior played a big part in the Tigers' defense as a reserve last season.
"Right now, he's working on some things through the semester that have got to be taken care of before we can even approach him," defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said on March 27.
The Tigers conducted their first summer meeting as a team Thursday and began summer workouts Monday.
Swain played both weak and middle linebacker for the Tigers in 2013. He had a team-best eight tackles in a 30-22 victory against Ole Miss after replacing injured starter Cassanova McKinzy at weakside linebacker. He also recovered a fumble and had four tackles against Florida State.
He gained national attention Nov. 1 when he abruptly fell to the turf in the end zone late in the third quarter at Arkansas. ESPN announcers and fans accused the then-sophomore of faking an injury to slow down Arkansas' offense, which was threatening to score after running a swinging-gate play to pick up a first down near the goal line.
Auburn coaches and Swain both denied the accusations. "We don't fake injuries," Swain said Jan. 4. "I was actually hurt."
The 6-foot-2, 249-pound Gadsden native played in all 14 games last season and had 26 tackles with one for a loss.
Auburn combated depth issues at linebacker by moving safety Khari Harding to weakside linebacker midway through the spring. Justin Garrett, who practiced at Star safety, could also move to weakside linebacker if needed.