LSU football coach Les Miles said sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson is on the road to gaining experience in throwing downfield and checking offensive play calls.”We spent a lot of time in the open week throwing the ball downfield,” Miles said. “Our ability to throw it downfield is coming. It’s been called, but it may be called a little bit more regularly.”Miles would not say who calls the offensive plays during games, but he said the coaching staff is making an effort to limit Jefferson’s role to simply executing the plays called.”Our quarterback, with experience, will be very comfortable making those checks,” Miles said. “But at this point, we are trying to take that off his plate if we can and just let him play.”Jefferson was sacked five times in LSU’s last game Oct. 10 against Florida, a 13-3 loss. The sophomore said the ability to master all the offensive calls instead of consistently checking with the sideline before plays is something he hopes to achieve.”I would like to have that leeway with the offense,” Jefferson said. “I know a lot of the offense compared to what I knew last year. Sooner or later, it will come.”As far as the play of his receiving corps, Miles said he likes what he has seen for the most part.”They are blocking well by and large,” Miles said. “There are some drops we’d like to eliminate.”Freshman quarterback Russell Shepard was sick during the off week. Shepard practiced Thursday and played in LSU’s scrimmage that day, and Miles said he anticipates Shepard to participate in preparations for LSU’s showdown with Auburn on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Tiger Stadium. “He took some reps in [Thursday’s] scrimmage, but not a large number,” Miles said. “We think he’ll be ready to go today, so we’ll see if we can get him greased up … and have him ready for the [Auburn] game.”Shepard did not play at all against Florida after he fumbled in LSU’s 20-13 win at Georgia. Miles denied Shepard is “in any unlit wing of the coach’s doghouse.””[Shepard] is something we desperately want to get woven into the thread of our offense,” Miles said. “We’re trying to get him comfortable at a receiver spot as well. Sometimes, trying to get a lot accomplished with just one person, it slows his progress in a number of spots.”Last season against Auburn, quarterback Jarrett Lee threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell in the final minute. Even coming off an intense defensive struggle with Florida two weeks ago, Miles said the team knows its job is far from finished.”Our football team understands what’s in front of us, and we have four very talented teams in our conference we have yet to play,” Miles said. “We’re pointing it down hill. We know where we’re headed.”—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]