Josh Holsey to stay at safety as long as Jermaine Whitehead suspended

AUBURN – Josh Holsey will remain at safety until and unless Jermaine Whitehead returns from his indefinite suspension.

There was no update regarding Whitehead's status on Sunday, three days after Auburn defeated Kansas State 20-14 without one of its most productive and consistent defenders.

Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson deferred to coach Gus Malzahn regarding Whitehead, who did not travel with the team and is indefinitely suspended after what AuburnUndercover.com reported as a "verbal altercation" with an assistant coach. Malzahn did not address the reasons for Whiteheads suspension

With just two days of very light practice and walkthrough to prepare to move back to safety, Holsey appeared no worse for the wear, making a career-high 11 tackles against the Wildcats.

"I thought he did a good solid job," Johnson said. "It was a tough move for him. … He did pretty well. I thought all our guys out back played pretty well. Put a lot of pressure on them, had to play a lot of man coverage to make sure we loaded the box on the quarterback and I thought they really competed well."

Holsey, who started six games at boundary safety last season prior to tearing his ACL, was not available for interviews.