Eli Drinkwitz gives an update after two full weeks and the first scrimmage of fall camp

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou football team is continuing to inch closer and closer to Sept. 3's season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as the Tigers have the first two weeks of fall camp in the books.

On Saturday, head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company capped off those two weeks with the first scrimmage of the preseason to get a look at where the group is at.

"[We] approached it like it was preseason game one," Drinkwitz said. "You know, really tried to allow a lot of different players to get as many reps as we could on tape. Tried not to evaluate over, you know, holistically offense and defensive schemes, but more about individuals who can help us play. You know, on the offensive side of the ball, fundamentals blocking, yards after catch and defensively tackling physicality, holding point pass rush ability. Then, we did some special teams stuff, so a lot of good. I'm sure there'll be a lot of bad, I'm sure there'll be a lot of stuff that we can take off the tape, just try to get a measuring stick where we're at after two weeks. We'll focus this week on execution, and then we'll have our, next preseason scrimmage or basically a preseason game next Saturday under the lights here in Faurot."

You can watch the full press conference with Coach Eli in the video player below.

Coach Drinkwitz met with local media members after that scrimmage wrapped up on Saturday and, of course, the top question was the status of running back Ahmad Hardy. The consensus All-American is still working his way back from a gunshot wound he suffered in a shooting a concert in Mississippi in early May.

On Saturday, Drinkwitz said that Hardy is still rehabbing and is able to participate in walk-throughs with the team. The team should have another update on his status after the first 'five-week block' of his return-to-play protocol, which will be on Saturday, Aug. 22.

Coach Eli also broke down how he feels like his new starting quarterback has been handling fall camp, after getting to watch him in that scrimmage.

"With everybody, there's positives and negatives. I think the thing that I've been appreciative of, Austin, he's very coachable. He learns from his mistakes, he doesn't let a mistake bother him. You know, he threw an interception the first drive today and then came back and threw a touchdown, so you know I think that's growth I think it's emotional consistency and maturity," he said. "Obviously, we got to take the takeaways off the tape, but he's very coachable and been appreciative of that."

As Simmons continues to find his rhythm in Columbia, he can rest assured that his offensive line is already coming together.

Coming into fall camp, there was an active competition for who would slide into the starting right tackle position, after Josh Atkins, the projected starting right tackle, got injured in the offseason. That right tackle roll is pivotal this season, as Simmons is a left-handed quarterback, making that side of the line his blind side.

On Saturday, Coach Drinkwitz revealed that Mississippi State transfer Luke Work is primed to take on that starting right tackle job, this season. Work came to Mizzou after playing in 11 games with one start for the Bulldogs, working his way up and down the line at left guard, right guard, left tackle and right tackle. He's definitely no stranger to his new position in Columbia, as he has logged three career starts at right tackle before.

"I mean, I think we feel pretty comfortable with [the tackles], right now. It doesn't mean somebody couldn't make a jump and force us to reevaluate it, but right now, I feel pretty good that [Cayden Green] and [Luke Work] are kind of our starters and we got to figure out, you know, who's our third tackle between [Logan Reichert] and [Jack Lange] and and even Whit Hafer. You know, we've moved Whit around a ton, but he's played tackle the past two days and he looks really natural at it. So, to have that flexibility with him that he can play all five positions is pretty good."

Work is one of the guys that Drinkwitz said has really put in a lot of work since arriving in Columbia and quickly earning the respect of his teammates.

Of course, there's a lot of new faces on this 2026 roster, so some of those transfers have needed to take on leadership roles, much like Work. Coach Eli said it's not necessarily about coming in and establishing yourself as an alpha with the team, but more about fitting yourself into the culture and working to enhance it.

"They've just tried to reinforce the message of the captains. So, guys like Jaden Jones, who's come in and battled some things, he had a health deal this summer and battled and but the way he battled through created respect for him from his teammates. He's used that respect in a positive way to enforce the culture. I think Cayden Lee, he's been one of those guys too, similar to what Kevin Coleman Jr. did," Drinkwitz said.

On the defensive side, cornerback Chris Graves Jr. is one of the biggest impact transfers that Mizzou in in the offseason. However, according to Drinkwitz, he's not the only guy in that room making an impact, so far.

"Chris Graves has played a ton of football and he's probably got the best grasp of what we're trying to do on one side and then the other side, you know, between Jahlil Florence, Nick DeLoach Jr., Jaxson Gates - as a freshman has come a long way -, Cam Keyes I think there's a lot of ability there," he said. "It's just about who's going to make plays on the ball. You know, who can cause incompletes and then force takeaways. So, every day we're just continuing to try to get reps and stack fundamentals and see who's going to be that guy for us. But, you know, Jahlil and [Sione LauLea] have have been exactly what we'd had hoped...I was proud today, Sione had a couple of really big tackles on dual play, where he was the unblocked guy and he fit it pretty good and then Jahlil had two big-time plays, one in the red zone, one backed up, forcing incompletions. So, that's good stuff."

Up next - Mizzou will continue on with fall camp in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 3.