Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn says All-American cornerback Carlton Davis will not play in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day. As Malzahn says, Davis has been ruled out due to illness, but the question remains whether or not Davis will be back in an Auburn uniform next year.
Davis reportedly missed three practices for Auburn this week due to the illness, and he is reportedly no longer in Atlanta with the Tigers preparing for the Peach Bowl. The illness is not believed to be related to the concussion Davis had in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.
“Carlton Davis will not play in our bowl,” Malzahn said Sunday, per Al.com. “He had an illness earlier in the week that has not gotten better. (Davis) went home (Saturday), just felt like he’d be better off there with the illness he has.”
Davis has not announced a decision on whether or not he will enter the NFL Draft in 2018 or return for another year at Auburn. The writing appears to be on the wall that Davis will be moving on, but for now that is nothing but pure speculation. Davis is expected to be a first-round prospect if he does enter the NFL Draft.
UCF (and Nebraska) head coach Scott Frost joked about the news during a press conference Sunday morning, saying he hoped the list of Auburn players missing the game would continue to grow.
UCF head coach Scott Frost joking around after finding out Auburn DB Carlton Davis would miss the Peach Bowl. He was hoping Auburn would be missing a few more players. pic.twitter.com/19CgNwBkdl
— Justin McNelley (@JMac_Sports) December 31, 2017
Without Davis, Auburn will most likely bump Javaris Davis into the starting role at cornerback.