Mizzou coach Drinkwitz ‘absolutely’ expects QB Brady Cook to return this season
Missouri Tigers football coach Eli Drinkwitz “absolutely” expects senior quarterback Brady Cook to return to the field this season, he said during the weekly SEC teleconference.
“Brady’s been in here every day,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s getting treatment, and (I) absolutely expect him back this season. And right now, I have no update that would tell me I don’t expect him for today’s practice.”
Cook suffered a high-ankle sprain during Mizzou’s home game against Auburn on Oct. 19. After leaving early in the first quarter to get tests done at a nearby hospital, he returned in the third and propelled MU to a 21-17 victory.
Cook was a game-time decision for Saturday’s road game against Alabama but appeared to suffer an injury to his throwing (right) hand late in the second quarter and did not return as the Tigers lost 34-0.
In Cook’s absence, backup quarterback Drew Pyne completed just 6 of 12 passes for 42 yards and tossed an interception on three straight drives. Graduate QB Harold “JR” Blood saw the field for one drive but did not attempt a pass.
Drinkwitz declined to provide further information on Cook’s injuries until his team’s next conference-mandated injury report is released Nov. 6.
The Tigers (6-2, 2-2 SEC) are idle this week and next play Oklahoma on Nov. 9 at Memorial Stadium.
“Mentally, physically, everything’s just been beat up for the eight weeks of the season,” Drinkwitz said. “So, we’re focused on trying to treat the whole body and getting healthy — spirit, soul, mind, body, all of it.”
Faurot Field after dark
For the first time this season, MU will play host to a SEC night game: against the Oklahoma Sooners in Columbia on Nov. 9.
The game will be played at either 6 or 6:45 p.m. and air on either ESPN or the SEC Network. Both the kickoff time and broadcast channel will be finalized following Saturday’s slate of games.
The matchup will mark the teams’ first meeting since Sept. 24, 2011, when the Sooners bested the Tigers 38-28 in a Big 12 showdown in Norman, Oklahoma.
Tickets for the game sold out immediately. It is one of two home games left on the schedule for the Tigers; the last one is against Arkansas on Nov. 30.
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