MU hopes to dial in on small details to avoid Week 6 letdown

With more attention on Mizzou heading into Week 6 against Texas A&M, Drinkwitz and his squad have to ensure they are still looking to improve in the days leading up to the game. According to Drinkwitz, teams who can sustain success in the Southeastern Conference have to accomplish a few items during that time.

“They find ways to improve from week to week,” Drinkwitz told reporters Tuesday. “(The) best teams are always getting better (and) are never satisfied with the previous week's performance.”

Making sure there is no shortage of focus on small details, whether it’s hand placement or footwork in practice, is also important to Drinkwitz. He wants the preparation to look like any other week against another good SEC opponent and, like usual, build a dome around the practice field to deflect any outside noise.

Mizzou’s confidence is growing each week as more eyes turn to Columbia. After a mind-boggling offensive performance against Florida, quarterback Austin Simmons and the Tigers offense has every right to feel confident. Simmons threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns in that outing and earned plenty of national recognition to go along with it.

“When you feel good about the way you're performing, I'm pretty sure that really translates on the game field,” Simmons said. “But whatever happened last week, I'm just gonna focus on this week. That doesn't matter. So really just get my head back into preparation mode.”

Senior wide receiver Caleb Goodie Sr. is another player who got a boost of confidence against the Gators. After a quiet first few weeks of the season with only one catch, he hauled in two for 67 yards and scored a trip to the end zone in the process.

“It felt amazing, I ain’t gonna lie,” Goodie said. “That was a dream come true. It felt amazing.”

Freshman OL Johnnie Jones in need of heart transplant

Drinkwitz told reporters that freshman offensive lineman Johnnie “DJ” Jones is on a heart transplant list after the team discovered a heart issue over the summer. The team sought more information after observations in the summer, which led to him being evaluated by the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

The team learned last week that Jones would be placed on the heart transplant list.

“I know Johnnie was watching our game,” Drinkwitz said. “It's just hard, (an) 18-year-old with everything in front of him, and you're just not prepared for that kind of news. Our team wasn't prepared for that kind of news, but we're praying for him, and I know a lot of Mizzou fans will hopefully join in that prayer because he does need help in a hurry.”

Drinkwitz shouted out Jones on the ABC broadcast following Mizzou’s win over Florida while speaking with sideline reporter Kris Budden.

“I want to give a shoutout to Johnnie Jones,” Drinkwitz said Saturday after the win. “DJ, we love you, man. We’re praying for you. We’ll see you soon.”

Drinkwitz provides injury updates ahead of Week 6

In typical weekly fashion, Drinkwitz provided injury updates, in some capacity, about players who were dinged up against Florida and others who missed that game.

He said that senior edges Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen will remain questionable this week and that the team would have a better feel for where they stood Thursday or Friday. Drinkwitz aims to make sure that re-injury risk is low by the time the pairing takes the field.

“It's all about, can they go out and effectively affect the game in a positive way without putting themselves in jeopardy or setting them back,” Drinkwitz said. “I think as a coach, you have to have a long-term approach that if you put them out in a game and they can't help you and they re-enter it, are you sacrificing the long-term success that you might have?”

In meantime, it'll be up to sophomore Daeden Hopkins and a slew of other pass rushers to hold onto the mantle at the defensive end position while Smith and Kitchen fight back from injury.

There’s no change to the status of running back Ahmad Hardy, either. He still has not been able to practice and has yet to start the two-week ramp-up that Drinkwitz said would be required for him to see the field for the first time.

“He's not able to go out there and protect himself in a manner that he would have to to compete in the SEC, so he's working really hard,” Drinkwitz said. “He's doing everything he can, but we're just waiting for his body to respond.”

Drinkwitz said that Hardy and the medical staff are doing everything they can to get the star running back healthy. MU’s leading man also said that he’s trying not to be frustrated because he knows Hardy, among others, are frustrated with Hardy’s recovery process.

Linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr. was helped off the field twice against the Gators on Saturday but was able to rejoin play each time. Drinkwitz said most of that was adrenaline and that, right now, he’d be questionable to play against Texas A&M.

With Woodyard out, someone else will have the green-dot communication helmet. Against Florida, whoever came into the game in his place would take that role, meaning junior Jeremiah Beasley. The same standards will be in place against Texas A&M and any other time he’s out.

“We have the ability to create a secondary player as the green if we felt like we need to, and then signal into the front,” Drinkwitz said. “But right now, that's the plan. It's just been for Jeremiah to be the green dot, whoever comes in the MIKE position.”

An unheralded defensive star 

The defensive tackle room was a question mark entering the season. Seniors Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall were expected to be the leaders and primary producers in the room, but everyone below that was an unknown. That's not exactly the case anymore with the arrival of Donta Simpson. 

Simpson had to overcome a health issue to even see the field this season.

He’s done that and more so far, becoming an important contributor in a defensive tackle room that’s constantly rotating and improving.

“I think he's getting better and better because now he's able to get back in and still lifting and gaining more strength and more endurance and more physical nature to what he's doing,” Drinkwitz said. “He's definitely been impressive in both the run and the pass.”

Simpson has recorded seven total tackles and three sacks through five games, which is the second-most on the roster. 

This didn't really surprise anyone on the Mizzou defense. Simpson was a hard worker during the offseason to overcome his health issue, and the entire team saw that.

"We've seen it firsthand on the grass fields or right across the street," MU linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez said. "He just had a minor setback, and now he's back on track."

More weekly honors for MU football

Three more Tigers earned weekly honors after an impressive win over the Gators. To start, Simmons was named the Davy O'Brien quarterback of the week. 

Running back Jamal Roberts earned the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honor for Week 5. Roberts rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns against the Gators. He's earned more carries with Hardy still out with an injury, allowing him to show off his full skillset. 

Offensive tackle Cayden Green was the last to earn a weekly nod, being named the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week.