Auburn's Cam Coleman Breaks Silence on Shoulder Injury

Auburn Tigers freshman wide receiver Cam Coleman suffered a shoulder injury during a Week 2 loss to the Cal Bears.

Auburn Tigers wide receiver Cam Coleman showed off his big-play ability vs. the Missouri Tigers. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Developing the huge talent of Auburn Tigers freshman wide receiver Cam Coleman was always going to be a major priority for this coaching staff. As expected, just like the majority of freshmen around the country, he's had his struggles along the way.

Quite clearly, an early season shoulder injury the pass catcher suffered against Cal has been a debilitating factor for Coleman as he adjusts to the increased levels of competition.

Dealing with such adversity has not been something Coleman has shirked; the explosive receiver is fully embracing what it can teach him for the long haul.

"The biggest thing I've learned about myself is how I handle adversity," Coleman admitted during media availability. "Things don't always go as planned, but it's the way you respond. I had a couple of injuries -- I had a shoulder injury -- but I bounced back from it. I'm 100% now. It was a little setback, but it's just about how I responded."

Time spent away from the field is always especially costly for a player who's making the quantum leap up from the high school level. 

Therefore, Coleman feels the improvements he needs to make are something he will attack with gusto in order to lay down the framework for success next season.

"I would like to improve some of my route-running and win some more one-on-one matchups," Coleman declared. "Really it's just a learning experience so we can know what to expect next year. I'm taking this year and applying it to next year, so we won't make the same mistakes twice."

In many ways, Coleman and the Tigers are sounding more and more like they have one eye on next season already, but head coach Hugh Freeze sounds more like some of Coleman's mental errors can be fixed in the here and now.

"Cam, obviously the deep threat has been proven that he's that," Freeze insisted. "We've got to keep him improving the intermediate part of his game, he really should've had an opportunity for two other catches, and he didn't execute the route properly."

Reminding yourself that Coleman's college football journey has only just begun is also very important - everything must be framed in context. Of course, the same applies to other freshman talent that Freeze has opted to give reps to right from the get-go.

Thankfully, Coleman is mature enough to accept that Rome wasn't built in a day, especially not for him, or the "Freeze Four" that will most likely form the nucleus of receiving talent for Auburn further on down the line.

"I feel like we've grown - me, Malcolm (Simmons), Perry (Thompson), Bryce (Cain) -- and a lot of the defensive guys starting as freshmen," Coleman explained. "We've all grown and matured throughout the season. We've just got to build off it."

Building though all the adversity has been no walk in the park, but they do say that iron sharpens iron.