🏈 Looking at Missouri- Eli Drinkwitz talks about their second scrimmage

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Missouri held its second scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday morning. Afterward, Eli Drinkwitz met with reporters to talk about his team.
Click on the player below to watch the press conference. Continue below for a full transcription.

Opening Statement

“Scrimmage, some good, some bad. That's typical, you know, if I was fired up about the offense, I'm ticked off about the defense. If I’m fired up about the defense, ticked off about the offense. So there was good give and take both sides. Somewhere between 125, 150 plays. We let everybody play today. Went live, had some situations, end of half, end of game. Thought our guys responded well to the situations. It was hot today. Offense started off fast, tailed off late. Defensively started slow but forced turnovers. They had two turnovers on the day, which was positive, and they had a goal line stand, so that was positive. You know, we got to continue to work to improve. We got a long way to go to be game ready from a functioning on and off the field to understanding personnels, getting special teams on and off the field. There's a lot of things. Defensively, offensively we're very multiple in our personnels, we got a lot of specific guys playing and we got to do a great job of getting those things communicated.

“From an injury standpoint, we had a lot of guys missing today for different things. Chad Bailey is going to be out for the next two to three weeks with a hand injury. Hyrin White was out with a shoulder injury. Elijah Young was out with a shoulder injury. Markell Utsey was out with an upper torso injury. Maurice Massey was out with a lower knee injury. Damon Hazelton was out with a soft tissue injury. And so those are some guys that you all are familiar with. I think for the most part we stayed pretty healthy today. We had one player get dinged up and didn’t finish the practice, but he just got done in the training room and he will be fine moving forward.”

Yesterday you mentioned you needed to see a lot more from your offense. Did you notice any big differences in the offense from the first scrimmage to today?

“Yeah, we got a couple first downs, which was a huge positive and we scored a couple of touchdowns which again was a huge positive. I thought our guys did a nice job staying in front of the chains and staying out of negative plays which has been an issue for us in all situations. Today we just didn’t have those which allowed us to function and call some manageable third downs. I thought our wideouts did as good a job as they’ve done making contested catches and winning one man to man situations. I thought our quarterbacks did a nice job of recognizing man/zone coverage and finding their answers, the progression. Honestly, it was refreshing. It reminded me that we could still coach a little bit around here to be honest. It was good to see that offensively. Consequently, defensively we’ve got to do a better job of stopping guys on third downs and not getting them behind the sticks on first downs.”

I know you’re not sharing quarterback plans, but what have you seen from those guys as far as their development the more they get acclimated to your offense?

“Yeah, you want me to name a starter right now? I’m not going to. I thought they did a nice job of again continuing to grow. This is the first time they’re going through some of these pass concepts and now today was the first time you could tell they felt comfortable calling the reps, knowing the answers, okay, man I’m going here, zone I’m going here. It’s a progression, I’m going through all this, this is the look I want this play. So they’re growing. You know, a couple of them made some plays scrambling today which was really nice. That’s an added dimension that you’ve always got to have and when everybody’s covered, you’re not which is big for us. I think they did a nice job. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but they didn’t throw an interception, which was nice, which is the first time they’ve done that in a couple of days so that’s positive.”

You mentioned yesterday the offensive line had been a little beat up. What have you seen from that group since camp started and how do you feel like guys have filled in?

“Honestly I think for them it’s very similar to the quarterback in that the situation was we were rotating a lot of guys, we had some guys quarantined, we had some guys with COVID, we had guys with some injuries. We’ve just been rotating a group and I think today really was the first time that we really had played with the same five for five or six consecutive practices. It’s been really nice, they’re starting to work together and starting to learn how to play with each other and create that unit. I think coach (Marcus) Johnson’s done an outstanding job just continue to develop these guys’ demeanor and how we want to play, what kind of effort we want to play with. He’s done an unbelievable job. It’s like a stinking cast and dye just to see who’s going to play offensive line on this day or that day with all the different things. He’s done a really nice job and our guys have adapted well. Today was probably the best day they’ve had in protection which gives your quarterback the chance to sit in the pocket and gives your wideouts the chance to make contested catches so that was good to see today.”

How are you feeling about your tight end situation right now?

“I feel good.”

Any players or reason why you feel good?

“Yeah, I mean we got five tight ends, they all rotate pretty well, they know their assignments, they play hard. I feel good about it. If there’s a specific deal I’ll answer it, but just in general I feel good.”

With the proven guys in the running back room and the fact everybody gets to come back for another year if they want to, how deep do you anticipate going on that depth chart?

“Whatever it takes to win football games. Whoever we need to play to be prepared to win and play at a high level. Obviously we feel really good about Larry (Rountree) and Tyler (Badie) and what they can do and Dawson Downing’s kind of like a utility knife in that he can do a lot of different things and get in the game. Elijah Young’s showed a lot of versatility and burstability. Wish he wasn’t dinged up right now, hope to get him back. Yeah, I said burstability. I think Simi (Bakare) has really come along with Elijah being out the last five days. He’s really taken advantage of his reps. Simi didn’t go today because of a hamstring, but look to get him back sooner rather than later and continue his growth.”

On the offensive line you’ve got a transfer in Mike Maetti who’s looking to maybe come in and start at center. How has he come in and led the line so far?

“His leadership’s been invaluable. He’s done a great job just anchoring it. Our defense is very multiple in what they do, transitioning from odd, even. They’ve done a lot more even front and movement than they have in the past. Coach (Ryan) Walters and coach (David) Gibbs along with a lot of the stuff we brought in that we’ve done in the past for me schematically, just being able to put those things together and creating issues has been tough, but Maetti’s seen a lot of it before because of his experience starting at center. He’s been able to keep guys calm and communicate and echo calls and he knows what we’re thinking.”
Three weeks away from kickoff does it feel like that crept up on you or does it still seem pretty far away?

“Crept up? No. No. We’re supposed to have played today man. I feel like I’m on the movie, what’s that movie with Tom Hanks in it and he’s on the island and he can’t get off? Castaway. I feel like Castaway. We can’t quite get to that game yet. Every time I think we’re close, the waves throw me back on the beach. Not creeping up on anybody.”

I wouldn’t expect you to say where he stands in the quarterback competition, but what have you seen from Shawn Robinson in terms of skillset, strengths, weaknesses?

“Shawn does a nice job understanding what we’re trying to do and plays within the framework of who he is as a quarterback. Throws the ball well, runs the ball well. Good try.”

Back to what you were saying about the season, I know you maintained optimism talking to us throughout the summer, but were there times you had doubts you guys would be able to reach this point with everything going on throughout the spring and summer?

“Yeah, when a couple of conferences folded we were kind of worried about it, but again I tip my hat to Commissioner (Greg) Sankey and the Presidents of our Universities and the rest of the conferences. I think Greg Sankey’s done an outstanding job leading and not being worried about whatever was on Twitter. He makes decisions in real time and takes his time and has been that same way the entire time since March. He’s said I’m going to be deliberate in my decision making and give us as much time as we can. Got full trust and confidence in what he’s done compared to some of the other ones.”

You said you have a long way to go before the team is game ready. What is it you see that tells you you’ve still got some work to do?

“Penalties, turnovers, lack of execution, giving up explosive plays, having negative yardage plays. All the stuff that makes football games ridiculously terrible to watch. If you see those, then it’s not good. It wasn’t a clean scrimmage today, hasn’t been completely clean in practice. We’ve still got three weeks to go, but we’ve got to continue to make progress and again we’ve got to handle personnel, we’ve got to handle substitutions, we’ve got to handle when they when they bust a play go to the next play mentality, and hey, this is the most important play we’ve got and quit dwelling on the past and quit playing and complaining on on poor performance and own your performance. We’re not there yet. We’re going to keep working on it till we get there. Don’t know if we’ll be there in three weeks, but we’re gonna have to be closer on Tuesday than we were today.”

PowerMizzou - Drinkwitz talks after second scrimmage

Missouri held its second scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday morning. Afterward, Eli Drinkwitz met with reporters.

missouri.rivals.com