Riddick undergoes season-ending surgery

AUBURN | A tough season for Demarcus Riddick has come to an even tougher end.

The Auburn sophomore underwent season-ending surgery during the bye week. Riddick injured his shoulder during the preseason and played with the injury in the Tigers’ first 10 games of the season.

“The injury he had this year, it’s been hard on him. It’s been a struggle,” said AU interim coach DJ Durkin. “We’ve tried to limit what we’ve asked of him and where we’ve put him to allow him to have some success. It’s just hard to be able to do that. Playing the linebacker position, at some point you’re going to get exposed when you’re not really able to strike with your shoulders.”

Riddick totaled 13 tackles, 1.0 tackle-for-loss, 1.0 sack and two pass breakups in limited action this fall. As a true freshman last year, he had 27 tackles, 5.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks.

Durkin expects Riddick to complete his rehab by next summer.

“We’re going to try to definitely get him back before we start any of the summer training,” he said. “Based on the things he has ahead of him, that’s a very reasonable thing. Even just saving these three to four weeks was big. We want to give him as much offseason time as he can possibly have to get his body right and be healthy to where he can get on the field and get the reps he needs.”

Auburn hosts Mercer Saturday. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on SECN+.