Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers prepare for a Week 12 matchup with UL Monroe. The 3-6 Tigers have struggled this season and now must lead the standings to secure their bowl eligibility.

A big part of the team’s struggles has been quarterback play. Quarterback Payton Thorne was benched and reinstated as a starter and is now dealing with a shoulder injury. The QB was injured against Vanderbilt, but recently told reporters he probably could have played last week if needed.

On Wednesday, however, Freeze hit the brakes on a Thorne comeback. The coach said Thorne needs to make more progress.

“Not as far as I hoped with the shoulder,” Freeze said during the SEC conference call. “He thinks he’ll be OK, but he definitely wasn’t ready to play yesterday, that’s for sure.”

If Thorne is unable to play against UL Monroe, this will be the first game he will miss due to injury in his 6 year college career. The veteran QB started 5 straight games after being reinstated as the starter. During this period, Thorne completed 65.7% of his passes for 1,125 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Freeze also mentioned that all of Auburn’s QBs would be evaluated during this week of practice. The coach emphasized that this is not a condemnation of Thorne’s play, but rather an overview.

“That’s certainly not to say that I don’t think he’s played pretty solid here lately,” Freeze said of Thorne. “You start to see the big picture. It’s not always the easiest thing to do, because you love your players.

The Tigers begin against the Warhawks on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET.