Mizzou football captains recap fall camp
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Saturday will be the final practice of a long fall camp for the Mizzou football team, as the group will soon turn its attention to the season opener against South Dakota, on Aug. 31.
You can watch extended highlights from Friday's second-to-last practice of fall camp in the video player below.
Friday's practice was the first time the newly voted captains took the field as the leaders of the Tiger program. Last year's starting quarterback Brady Cook, running back Cody Schrader, offensive lineman Javon Foster, defensive lineman Darius Robinson and linebackers Ty'Ron Hopper and Chad Bailey were all voted captains of the 2023 squad by their teammates.
The team voted Cook as a captain for the second-straight season. The junior is in the midst of a tight quarterback competition against sophomore Sam Horn and Miami-transfer Jake Garcia.
"I think a big part of the competition is being the best leader, so I think that's just a part of it," Cook said. "You have to be a true leader of the whole team. The offense is going to look up to you. The defense is going to look up to you. It's just something that has to be there."
You can watch the full interview with Cook in the video player below.
Foster is also a second-year captain, as the most veteran member of the MU offensive line. Throughout his Tiger career, he hasn't always been the most vocal player on the team, but has worked on becoming one.
He said that in 2022 that play from the offensive line was unacceptable, in his eyes. He feels like the group has made some strides during fall camp, with more expereince in the room than they've had in years.
"This year I feel like we're a lot more confident," he said. "Offense is a little bit different this year, so us just trying to learn to play together, as a unit. I feel like we have grown a lot more this offseason and put in a lot more work. We're just playing a lot more confident this year."
You can watch the full interview with Foster in the video player below.
Schrader was voted a captain in just his second year with the team, after transferring from Division II in 2022. He said he hopes his story can help inspire the younger players who might feel like they won't ever get a chance. The St. Louis-native broke onto the Tiger scene in his senior season. He emerged as the bell cow for the Mizzou offense, taking the majority of the reps through the second half of the season.
With the season just 13 days away, the team will be preparing for South Dakota, but Schrader said the mentality won't shift too much.
"For me, that switch and that fire has always been there," he said. "I'm always internally motivated, no matter what. Whether it's day one of camp or it's the day before the game, my motivation and my fire is always the same."
You can watch the full interview with Schrader in the video player below.
There are a lot of veterans returning to the Mizzou defense, in a year with high expectations. One of the most-senior returners is Robinson. He will enter his fifth season with the team in 2023, after deciding to forgo the NFL Draft for one more season.
On Friday, he said that this year's camp has been the most difficult of his MU career, mostly due to the strides of the offensive line has made. His defense finished as one of the top-60 in the nation in 2022 and will hope to follow that up with being the best defense in the country in 2023. Robinson wants to be a leader on his side of the ball.
"I just try to get everybody turnt up, just be a great communicator with everybody on the team," he said. "That's one thing I challenged myself with in the spring was to eat with somebody different every day, just to really get a true knowing of my teammates and understanding."
You can watch the full interview with Robinson, as well as fellow captains Hopper and Bailey in the video player below.
