Tigers wrap up practices in Columbia
The Missouri Tigers wrapped up their final practice in Columbia before leaving for the Cotton Bowl with a light-hearted hour-and-a-half workout in the Devine Pavilion on Saturday morning. It was "NFL day" where the players and coaches get to wear relaxed gear. The Tigers went through many of the regular drills before getting out of town for a three-day Christmas break. It is a break the players are ready for.
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"I'm looking forward to getting home because I haven't been home since June," said sophomore linebacker Sean Weatherspoon.
"The things that are not good about playing football is practicing for a long period of time without no games," Lorenzo Williams said. "So spring ball, ehhh. Two a days, ehhh. Bowl games is like so much buildup to where we're going. You're like, I'm really ready to get out of here, really ready to get to where we're going."
The players will get to go home today and will not have to report back until the 26th. The team will depart the Missouri Athletics Training Complex at 8:30 that morning (fans are invited to send the team off). However, players that live more than four hours from Columbia have the option of meeting the team in Dallas that afternoon. Mizzou's first practice in Dallas will take place on the 27th.
"We're ready to get it on," William Moore said.
Much of the last week was dedicated to getting in reps for some of the young players and reserves who will take on a bigger role next season. However, the last few days have marked the start of preparation for Arkansas.
"That was Wednesday actually," Derrick Washington said. "After that, we've been putting all our Arkansas stuff in Thursday and Friday and it just started clicking."
Click here for a few extra notes from the morning workout.
PowerMizzou.com will have previews of the Cotton Bowl throughout next week and will be in Dallas to cover the Tigers' first New Year's Day bowl game in nearly four decades.