Mizzou bowl practice notes: Cook injury details, Horn throwing again, Newson could return for 2025

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

The inside of the Gaylord Opryland resort is meant to be a spectacle, where a walk through its halls includes strolling past indoor waterfalls and jungle-ish greenery.

Observant Missouri fans taking in the Nashville destination shortly before 1 p.m.

on Sunday might have caught a passing glimpse of their favorite teams coaching staff speed-walking through.

They were heading from the Music City Bowls pregame news conference to the Tigers final bowl practice, held 20 minutes away in Vanderbilts indoor training facility.

Thats the shuffle of bowl trips, which are part getaway, part event promotion and part coaching for the Mizzou staff.

And the transfer portal is happening, too.

Entries are technically closed now, though players on teams like MU that have a late bowl game or playoff game will get another brief window to enter after their final game of the season.

The portal is where the biggest news has been on the Missouri front lately, with the signing of former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula.

But taking questions from the media for the first time since landing Pribula, Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz declined to talk about the transfer portal move that will likely define his offseason.

I want to focus on the bowl game, Drinkwitz said.

Well talk about that when those guys get on campus.

Its already a telling sign of the college football times that Mizzou has picked up the likely successor to starting quarterback Brady Cook before Cook has even played the final game of his MU career.

Yeah, thats the calendar in college football, offensive coordinator Kirby Moore said.

Building for next season while finishing this season with the bowl game.

Speaking of Cook, Drinkwitz offered new insight into one of the injuries that sidelined Missouris starters for a brief time earlier in the season.

The injury that Cook suffered during the Tigers Oct.

26 defeat to Alabama was in fact a right wrist fracture, Drinkwitz said.

The manner in which the fifth-year quarterback was hurt and the fact that the injury showed up on an X-ray had suggested he had a break in his hand or wrist, but the team had not previously confirmed exactly what was wrong.

Cook missed Mizzous next game, a home win over Oklahoma.

Even with the week off, X-rays still showed a fracture in his wrist.

Heading into the Nov.

16 game against South Carolina, Drinkwitz and the MU staff gave Cook the option not to play with a wrist that was still broken.

He played, and even made one the best throws of his career in the defeat a fourth-down dime down the sideline to wide receiver Luther Burden III.

Add that to the lore of Cooks Missouri tenure, which already includes him playing through a torn labrum in 2022 and a high ankle sprain earlier this season.

Hes a young man who from Day 1 wanted to be here and has had to endure, Drinkwitz said.

Among the potential candidates to replace Cook next season even if Pribula is the heavy favorite is Sam Horn, who missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Horn will attempt to play baseball and still participate in Mizzous spring football practices, Drinkwitz said previously.

Horns injury recovery seems to be coming along well.

Drinkwitz had said that Horn was beginning to throw again in practice, and the very brief periods of Saturday and Sundays practices that were open to media showed exactly that.

The Tigers went through just a couple of drills before directing reporters to leave the indoor facility, but Horn was dressed for practice and throwing well.

Horn has not been cleared for contact, though, so he wont be playing against Iowa in the Music City Bowl that will be Cooks send-off game.

Newson could be back after JUCO rule change Mizzou outside linebacker Triston Newson could be sticking around for another season after the NCAA modified eligibility rules for former junior college players.

Hed been expected to play his final game in the Music City Bowl but could play another year if he wants because of the NCAAs decision last week following a courtroom defeat in a lawsuit brought by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.

Its up to him, Drinkwitz said.

We would love to have him back.

Wed welcome him back with open arms.

Newson played at Northeast Missouri Community College before transferring to Missouri ahead of the 2023 season.

His time in the JUCO ranks had previously counted toward his eligibility, but he now can have another year, the NCAA said.

If Newson decides to return, he would change the makeup of a linebacker room that was preparing to lose Newson and two other veterans.

The Tigers have already signed two linebackers out of the transfer portal: former Nebraska linebacker Mikai Gbayor and former West Virginia linebacker Josiah Trotter.

MU will also have Khalil Jacobs, Nicholas Rodriguez and Jeremiah Beasley returning next season.

Obviously, (the chance that Newson could return) affects a lot of different people, Drinkwitz said.

It affects our roster count.

To do that after the portal has been open and after people have signed and all that is a little bit tricky, but hes one of us..

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