Notebook: Okwuegbunam, Badie miss practice Tuesday
Coming off its first win over a ranked opponent since the 2014 season, the Missouri football team also has its longest injury report of the year this week. Seven regular contributors either didn’t make the trip to Florida or left the game with an injury. While most of those players were back on the field for Tuesday’s practice, the most notable name on the list, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, was not.
Okwuegbunam injured his right shoulder in the second quarter against Florida and did not return. He was spotted wearing his arm in a sling after the game. Tigers head coach Barry Odom didn’t disclose any specifics about Okwuegbunam’s injury other than to say the team hopes he can return to practice Wednesday. Whether he does so could determine his status for Saturday’s matchup with Vanderbilt. The same applied to freshman running back Tyler Badie, who exited Saturday’s game after one carry with an injury to his right foot.
“Anticipate both of them getting a little bit of work tomorrow and see where we are,” Odom said. “Wednesday’s kind of the big day for us, to see how close or how far they are away.”
Okwuegbunam leads Missouri in receptions and touchdown catches this season with 43 and six, respectively. Badie has accumulated 436 yards from scrimmage on 78 touches and also served as the team’s primary kickoff returner. Receiver Richaud Floyd replaced him in that role after he left the game Saturday.
If Okwuegbunam is unable to play against Vanderbilt, Missouri will hope fellow tight end Kendall Blanton can return to the field for the first time in three weeks. Blanton missed the team’s past two games due to a sprained knee, but he participated in practice Tuesday, albeit in a limited capacity. Odom said he “looked pretty good.”
In more positive injury news, cornerback Adam Sparks and defensive tackle Kobie Whiteside both practiced fully Tuesday. Sparks didn’t make the trip to Florida due to a bruised shin and Whiteside left the game in the first half with a lower leg injury and did not return. The Tigers found themselves thin at both positions, as neither cornerback Jarvis Ware nor defensive tackle Rashad Brandon made the trip to Florida due to personal reasons. Both Ware and Brandon practiced Tuesday.
One other player whose availability may be in question Saturday is senior wide receiver Nate Brown. Brown didn’t participate in practice Tuesday. He’s missed three games this season while battling a groin injury.
Acy, Holmes improving with experience
Due to the absence of Sparks and Ware at Florida, Missouri’s starting cornerbacks, DeMarkus Acy and Christian Holmes, knew they would have to shoulder a heavy workload. The pair delivered. Acy played all 70 defensive snaps against the Gators, and Holmes played all but one.
Defensive coordinator Ryan Walters praised both players not just for staying on the field, but for their effectiveness in coverage. Florida completed 11 of 23 passes intended for receivers covered by Acy and Holmes.
“It’s a testament to their preparation, both taking care of their bodies physically and being able to mentally prepare with the mindset that I’ve got to focus every snap,” Walters said. “In particular, I thought Acy did a really good job of covering the deep ball and staying focused and communicating. That was huge.”
Holmes didn’t work his way into the starting lineup until Missouri’s seventh game of the season, against Memphis. He, Acy and the entire Tiger secondary struggled at times early in the season. Walters believes those early struggles have actually contributed to the cornerbacks’ better play of late. Saturday was the second straight game the cornerback tandem has performed well. Against Kentucky, Acy surrendered three receptions for 18 yards, while Holmes gave up just one catch for seven yards.
“Sometimes the best teacher is seeing it and getting beat on it on gameday,” Walters said. “So you understand the importance of what the detail in the technique is, or detail in the call is. And then as a result, you start seeing it more consistent in practice as well.”
Tigers trying to stay grounded after win
Part of what made Missouri’s win at Florida last week so impressive was that the Tigers had to quickly rebound from a devastating, 15-14 loss to Kentucky on the final play of the game in order to prepare for the next matchup. Now, in the days following the win, Odom said the team has a similar challenge in forgetting about the last result and focusing its preparation on this week’s matchup. He said he’s enjoyed that challenge this week more than he did a week ago.
“I always want to be able to correct them after a win,” Odom said. “... But just like last week, stand in here, you’ve got to make sure that any small detail, habit that doesn’t look right, you’ve got to address it.”
Quarterback Drew Lock pointed out that he has more experience rallying his teammates after a demoralizing loss than he does keeping them humble after a big win. Due to that and the fact that the Tigers’ next game will kick off at 11 a.m., he said avoiding a letdown might be more difficult this week than it was following the Kentucky loss.
“I think it’s going to be a test to us as an offense and us as a team just in general to come out here, 11 o’clock start, it’s probably going to be gray, gloomy skies, you just got done playing at the Swamp,” Lock said. “It’ll be a test to us. We got to come out sharp, we have to bring our A-game and start fast, just like we did down in Florida.”
Lock calls out CeCe Jefferson
At SEC Media Days in July, Florida defensive end CeCe Jefferson made headlines when he characterized the atmosphere during the 2017 matchup between the Gators and Tigers as “quiet” and “boring.” He said the crowd at Faurot Field, or lack thereof, lulled Florida to sleep.
“Their fans have a way of just zoning out of the game,” Jefferson in July. “And it’s so quiet in there. I could hear myself thinking in there. I’m not used to that, and it’s like that the whole game, so you just get kind of like, damn, this is boring.”
Lock didn’t forget the slight. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, he referred to Jefferson as “the guy that doesn’t like quiet stadiums.” Without skipping a beat, Lock said, “I guess we gave him another one of those.”
Jefferson recorded just one tackle during the game.