Missouri football injury update: Brady Cook’s status unclear; Tollison out for season

Posted by Admin November 12, 2024 Football

Eli Drinkwitz confirmed one injury report.

As was first reported Monday evening by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Missouri football center Connor Tollison is out for the season for surgery on what MU’s head coach called a leg injury. Tollison’s replacement for Mizzou’s matchup Saturday at South Carolina will be fifth-year senior Drake Heismeyer, who has been with the program since 2020 but has never started a game.

“Very tough news for us as a program and as a team. Connor was Mr. Consistent, as good a center as we’ve had here,” Drinkwitz said during his weekly press conference Tuesday. … “(I) know he’ll bounce back; know we’ll get him back for next year. But, disappointed for him.”

If you want an update on any of Mizzou’s other players who could be questionable — starting quarterback Brady Cook, perhaps — you’re going to have to wait.

“All other injuries,” Drinkwitz said, “I’ll refer back to the SEC injury policy reporting procedure, which will be out Wednesday night.”

Modus operandi in Missouri, then.

Cook is 2-0 against South Carolina over the course of his Mizzou career, taking down a then-ranked Gamecocks team, 23-10, in 2022 and leading MU to a 34-12 home win last season.

Mizzou’s third-year starting quarterback did not take the first offensive snap for the first time since a Nov. 26, 2021, game at Arkansas when he was out of the lineup against Oklahoma on Saturday on Faurot Field. He reportedly is rehabbing from an injury to the hand/wrist area in a loss to Alabama, and he also sustained a high-ankle sprain the week prior in a win over Auburn.

Cook was with the team Saturday before the Tigers faced the Sooners, walking Faurot Field while his teammates went through pregame warmups. He did not have a noticeable limp and was not wearing a cast on his throwing hand, which is believed to be the impacted area.

Drinkwitz said the team will know later this week whether Cook can play at South Carolina.

Cook’s backup Drew Pyne would be in line for a second straight start should Cook prove unavailable. According to reports emerging out of Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday, Pyne was recruited by Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer while the coach was an assistant on Oklahoma’s staff.

Pyne bounced back to help Mizzou win on Saturday against OU. In his first 13 drives against Power-conference opposition, he threw three picks and led one scoring drive. By the end of the first half Saturday, he had just 23 passing yards.

But, after the half-time break, Pyne threw three touchdown passes, including one on a two-minute drive to tie the game in the fourth-quarter to help Mizzou win.

“We have a lot of confidence in Drew, and whoever gives us the best opportunity to win is who we’re going to play,” Drinkwitz said. “We won’t know anything on Brady until later in the week, but I would anticipate Drew’s gonna — you know, we’ll prepare for Drew to be the starter.”

Mizzou’s offensive line, now down a key piece in Tollison, who has started 34 straight games for MU, faces a stern test in South Carolina. Heismeyer played 26 snaps in the OU win and did not allow any pressure to get to Pyne, per PFF College.

But the Gamecocks have fielded one of the FBS’ more disruptive defenses this season, registering the third-most sacks per game (3.67) and the 10th-most tackles for loss per game (7.7) in the FBS.

Dealing with that is now part of Heismeyer’s challenge.

“He’s embraced his role. You know, he’s … on our middle shield on punt team, takes an extreme amount of pride in that, knows all the looks, understands it. So, he’s played quite a bit of football, he just hasn’t played in the role that we’re going to ask him to play now,” Drinkwitz said. … “It’s really just going to be about stepping into that moment and owning the moment.”

There’s also a lingering question about left guard Cayden Green, who left MU’s win over Oklahoma on Saturday during the second half. He was listed with a “probable” designation throughout last week before MU faced the Sooners and started, but he did not return to the game. Mitchell Walters replaced him on the interior.

Running back Nate Noel, who has been battling a foot injury for several weeks, took 12 snaps against the Sooners, while a bulk of the reps at tailback were shared between Marcus Carroll and Jamal Roberts. Noel, listed on MU’s depth chart as the starter, feels like he’s nearing a full return.

“I think I’m getting closer and closer to 100%,” Noel said Tuesday. “I’ve been working with my trainers and my strength staff, and I feel like I’m getting very close to that mark.”