Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins, a popular preseason All-America pick who led the team in tackles last season, will not be available for Saturday's game vs. No. 1 Georgia.
No injury to Atkins has been reported. The reason the former All-SEC pick is out will be kept "in-house," coach Alex Golesh told reporters on Monday.
"And really that'll be the only piece of it that I'll be addressing," Golesh said. "But he won't be with us this week for the game on Saturday, won't be available, and then we'll revisit early next week when we meet again here."
Atkins was one of the most productive defenders in college football last season, leading the team with 84 tackles and nine sacks. His 17 tackles for loss were the most in the SEC.
Atkins, who began his career at LSU, remained with Auburn through the coaching change from Hugh Freeze to Golesh this offseason.
This season, Atkins has started four of five games. He has 37 tackles, three sacks and an interception.
With Atkins out, De'Marcus Riddick could have expanded opportunities.
Riddick has been working his way back from a season-ending shoulder injury last November.
"Demarcus, we've worked really hard as he's come back from the off-season stuff to get him back really, really confident," Golesh said. "And this entire building are all fans of Demarcus Riddick, and we're slowly but surely seeing him get better and better. And the better is truly more confident coming back. And what he had to go through to even get back is a credit to him and his mental toughness and just him gaining the confidence back.
"But certainly you would imagine his role will continue to increase, which was the plan going in all along in terms of hopefully getting the best version of him. ... He's played on special teams, he's played a fair share of defense, but certainly we're excited about him continuing to come along. And man, when he is healthy, he is a special, special player and he's really close to getting back to healthy, yet at the same time confident that he's back to that same player."