After an absence of six days, Auburn wide receiver D’haquille Williams has been formally reinstated by the team and has returned to practice. Head coach Gus Malzahn commented on the updated status of the receiver following practice on Thursday.
“He took care of his business off the field, what I had him doing,” Malzahn said, per Al.com. “He is in the process of every day earning his coaches’ and his teammates’ respect.”
Williams has been spending time away from the team for a mysterious violation of team rules. That time away from the program started just before Auburn’s bowl game against Wisconsin last January. Malzahn recently commented no further than to say they were dealing with a discipline issue with regard to Williams. Clearly, he is having to work on regaining a footing on the depth chart, as he is working his way up this summer leading up to the start of the new football season.
“He was at the bottom of the depth chart (on Thursday),” Malzahn said. “He’s going to earn his way back up. He understands that. For anybody that missed that many practices that’s to be expected.”
Williams was Auburn’s second-leading receiver last season with 730 yards and four touchdowns and he caught a team-high five touchdowns. Expect him to move up that depth chart rather quickly, so long as he stays out of putting Malzahn in the position to hand down some more discipline for any reason.