James apparently gone from LSU

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - Free safety Damien James, touted by LSU as a cornerstone of a defense dubbed the ``James Gang,&#39;&#39; has apparently quit the team. <br> <br> Coach Nick Saban said Wednesday he assumes free safety Damien James has quit the team, but he hasn&#39;t heard anything from James all week. <br> <br> James, a senior starter, missed practice for the third straight day. Saban said sophomore cornerback Randall Gay will be the starter at free safety Saturday at Auburn. <br> <br> James, who missed his only start this year Sept. 1 at Virginia Tech for disciplinary reasons, was one of the defensive stars last season in LSU&#39;s 31-20 win over Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game. <br> <br> Saban said he hasn&#39;t spoken with James since LSU&#39;s 38-14 victory Saturday over South Carolina. <br> <br> ``I did not suspend him,&#39;&#39; he said. ``I did not have words with him. Nothing.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> James could not be reached for comment. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re going to support the guy every way we can, help the guy every way we can, but obviously he&#39;s missed now three days of practice, and I haven&#39;t talked to him, so I&#39;m assuming that he&#39;s quit the team,&#39;&#39; Saban said. ``That&#39;s just an assumption on my part, since I haven&#39;t talked to him. <br> <br> ``There may be other issues that are involved in this, but those are not for public information or discussion, and since I haven&#39;t talked to him I don&#39;t know what those issues are.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Linebacker Bradie James (no relation) said he and the Tigers will support him and welcome him back to the team if he returns, but he admitted the situation has been a distraction for the team. <br> <br> ``Without a doubt, we&#39;ll always be for the players,&#39;&#39; he said. ``And if D.J. wanted to come back you know, open arms. But he has to also realize that what he&#39;s done, it wasn&#39;t just a decision for himself; he has affected all of us, and we&#39;ve got to let him know about that.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Saban, who attended the funeral of his mother-in-law at midday and returned in time for practice, was increasingly pointed and defensive the longer he talked about James. <br> <br> ``I&#39;ve been coaching for 30 years, or close to it,&#39;&#39; Saban said, ``and I have never had a guy on a team that is having success, who is a successful player, ever quit a team in the middle of the season. So you figure it out.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Meeting with reporters after the Wednesday practice as he does every week, Saban answered two questions about James&#39; status but quickly cut off any others. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m trying to coach the guys that are on the team that are going to play in the game,&#39;&#39; Saban said. ``We&#39;ve got a lot of good football players on this team, and I&#39;m here to tell you, it&#39;s time to move on. All right? It&#39;s time to move on. You got it? It&#39;s time to move on. I ain&#39;t answering any more questions about it. <br> <br> ``Guy didn&#39;t come to practice for three days. I&#39;ve got nothing else to say about it. We&#39;re moving on. You got me? Moving on. I don&#39;t care if he&#39;s around school ... I don&#39;t care. We&#39;re moving on. You got it?&#39;&#39;