Auburn’s first spring scrimmage came to a premature and frightening end Saturday morning.

Defensive end Antonio Coleman lay motionless on the field, with his teammates gathered in a prayerful circle around him. The junior was surrounded by medical staffers — and by silence.

The 2,500 fans who gathered to watch the Tigers’ first big day of spring practice were silent. So were the AU players and coaches who moments before had been screaming instructions and encouragement to each other.

Every eye in the stadium was fixed on Coleman.

Those worried observers — and the thousands more who followed the story on the Internet — received good news a few hours later.

At 3:15 p.m., an AU press release announced that Coleman had been released from East Alabama Medical Center, where he had been rushed by ambulance a few minutes after his injury.

Doctors at EAMC diagnosed Coleman with a cervical sprain. The injury is painful, but isn’t expected to have lasting effects.

According to the Auburn release, Coleman had “full mobility” in his fingers and toes when he was released from the hospital.

His coaches and teammates are thankful it wasn’t worse.

“The thing about this game is, every time you see that ambulance come onto the field, it scares you,” said offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who was a consultant at Hoover High when Buccaneers player Victor Hill died on the field.

“Your heart goes every time. It’s a part of the game that you wish wasn’t there, but it is.”

Before the injury, Coleman had been one of AU’s most effective defenders in the scrimmage. He had five tackles — two for loss — and a sack before the final play.

On that play, he was lined up opposite sophomore left tackle Lee Ziemba. Exactly what happened on the play is unclear.

Offensive line coach Hugh Nall said he wasn’t watching Coleman and Ziemba at the time.

“I just looked up and saw him go to the ground,” Nall said. “I didn’t see what happened. I’ll see it on film, whatever happened.”

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