Mizzou football: Eli Drinkwitz gives Brady Cook vote of confidence before Tennessee

Eli Drinkwitz has heard the comments.

“I’m not deaf out there,” Missouri football’s head coach said during his Tuesday press conference. “I only have one headset (ear) on, so I can hear everybody else give me ideas.”

He knows fans can get frustrated with quarterback Brady Cook. The griping from some fans continued on Saturday when Cook struggled during the first half of MU’s loss to Kentucky.

Still, Drinkwitz isn’t inclined to make a change at the position right now. Cook won the job during fall camp, and his coach has made it clear that he will remain the starter.

Besides, Cook’s performance in the second half, where he scored two touchdowns and gave Missouri a fighting chance against UK, was extremely solid.

More:Unforced errors return to doom Missouri football in SEC loss to Kentucky

“The reality of it is in the fourth quarter our quarterback played well enough to get us back in the game and have us have a lead,” Drinkwitz said. “Doesn’t excuse the things that occurred before that that have to improve, but he still gives us our best chance moving forward and he’s going to continue to grow and get better.”

Drinkwitz had planned to give true freshman Sam Horn some playing time in the Tigers’ win over Vanderbilt. However, the Commodores made it a game in the second half and he never felt comfortable inserting Horn.

He did not rule out getting some game reps for the former four-star prospect this season.

“If the opportunity presents itself to get another quarterback in a situation that we’re in control of, we would do that,” Drinkwitz said. “But I'm not making that plan for this game.”

Drinkwitz praised Cook’s mental and physical toughness throughout the season.

“Wehn you’re not performing the way everybody wants you to perform, everybody wants somebody else and somebody different,” Drinkwitz said. “Sometimes it’s just a growth process and sometimes it’s a lot of different combinations, but I’ve been proud of the way he’s led and not flinched and keeps going back up. He gives us everything we got.”

Line change

One issue that has not helped Cook this season is a lack of protection from his offensive line. On Tuesday, Drinkwitz acknowledged the group needs to continue and improve.

It will be without EJ Ndoma-Ogar, who was injured against Kentucky. Drinkwitz also said Hyrin White will be out for the season.

“We will make some changes this week on the offensive line due to injury,” Drinkwitz said “Those will be worked out in our practice starting (Tuesday) and seeing where that goes.”

Saturday’s matchup with Tennessee will be Missouri’s sixth combination of offensive linemen so far this season according to Drinkwitz.

“We’re in a unique situation where our right tackle started the season at right guard and (we) lost two starting right tackles,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s sad for EJ because EJ was really playing well.”

He said after the Kentucky game that he would anticipate Ndoma-Ogar being out for a while. However, on Tuesday he said he was unsure if the lineman would be out for the entire season.

'It can only cost me money'

After Saturday’s game, Drinkwitz made clear his displeasure with a roughing the punter penalty called late in the fourth quarter, after a punt snap went well over the head of Kentucky’s Colin Goodfellow. UK’s punter tried to escape, then made a desperation kick as he was tackled by Missouri’s Will Norris.

Since Goodfellow remained in the tackle box, Norris was called for the penalty, which gave the Wildcats an automatic first down and allowed them to run the clock most of the way down.

On Tuesday, Drinkwitz said he had received an explanation from the SEC about the call. That's where the discussion about the officiating will end.

“The response says it’s going to have no bearing on the outcome, or this next game,” Drinkwitz joked. “That’s not really what the response is. But it doesn’t change the outcome, so it’s really not anything worth discussing in my opinion. It can only cost me money.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou football: Eli Drinkwitz praises Brady Cook before Tennessee