Five Downs: April 2nd

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Missouri returned to the practice field for the tenth workout of spring ball on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers have just four practices left before the April 13th Black and Gold Game. But for one Tiger, spring ball ended almost before it began.

Freshman safety Jalani Williams injured his foot in early March and has spent the last few practices watching from a scooter with his foot bandaged after surgery

“It was hard at first,” Williams said. “But now I know the playbook. The only thing is I can’t be out there, but I’m getting mental reps and it’s still working out.”

But Williams said he doesn’t regret his decision to enroll early out of Parkway North.

“It was a good decision. I get to get a jump start, the weights, all that.”

We’ll have more with the promising freshman in a camp Q&A later this week.

Another Tiger defensive back is still working his way back from injury. Adam Sparks missed most of the second half of last season with an injury. At the time, even Sparks didn’t know how serious it was.

“It was like every week, we was trying to make a comeback,” he said. “Then at the end of the season is when we found out it was a stress fracture.”

The fracture was in multiple locations in his shin. Sparks had a rod surgically inserted in his leg after the season and has been limited for all of spring ball while trying to get back to a hundred percent.

“It was frustrating, but I’m going to use that to my ability when I come back,” he said. “All the want, I’m going to put all of that into the games that come in the future. I’m going to pretty much take the same approach, it’s going to add another fire to it.”

Sparks had 38 tackles, an interception and two pass breakups in eight games last year. He’ll add depth to starters Christian Holmes and DeMarkus Acy when he returns.

The Tigers have another practice on Thursday afternoon and a closed scrimmage on Saturday. Between the two, Barry Odom will host a clinic for area high school coaches, something he said he’s been wanting to do for a couple of years. Recently retired Kansas State coach Bill Snyder is set to be the keynote speaker.

“I’ve got a great deal of respect for Bill Snyder and the job that he’s done,” Odom said. “Maybe the best ever, and he did it in a place that, when he started there at K State, the progress that he made consistently and in turning them into a championship program, as much respect as I could have for somebody and we’re fortunate that he’s coming to join us.”

Odom said the coaches will be invited to stay and watch the Tigers’ scrimmage on Saturday.

After spring ball concludes, all eyes will turn to the NFL Draft. The event will be held from April 25th to the 27th in Nashville and Missouri will be a major storyline with Drew Lock expected to be a first round pick. Lock’s father confirmed that the family will accept the NFL’s invite to attend the draft in person. Odom told PowerMizzou.com on Tuesday that he plans to be in attendance as well.

All eyes continue to be on Lock’s successor at practice. Odom was asked again on Tuesday how Kelly Bryant is progressing in the Tigers’ offense.

“He doesn’t really get rattled,” Odom said. “You want a guy with some calmness, but also the urgency that it takes to really perform at that position and he’s a mature guy and he’s seen a lot over his time as a college player. Some of that shows up in the 11-on-11 and the scrimmage situations.”

As for Bryant, he was complimentary of his supporting cast after practice.

“They’re playmakers,” Bryant said. “Get those guys the ball and they’re gonna do the rest. We’ve got so much depth (at receiver), also tight end and also running back. But it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have guys up there protecting you. We have great guys up there giving me time to allow those guys to make plays.”