Missouri got a major lift on Wednesday’s SEC Student-Athlete Availability Report: Ahmad Hardy is no longer listed as out ahead of Saturday’s 6:45 p.m. matchup with Arkansas.
That means Hardy is technically available for the Tigers, after spending the season listed as out. It’s a sharp change from how this looked even a day earlier, when head coach Eli Drinkwitz said there was still no clear timetable for the star back’s return.
The Tigers’ injury picture also looks a lot cleaner overall. Just three Missouri players show up on the report now, a huge drop from the season-high 24 who appeared last game. That lines up with Drinkwitz’s Tuesday update on 12 Tigers, several of whom were not fully healthy.
Hardy’s situation has been the one everyone has circled. Drinkwitz said Tuesday that Hardy practiced on Monday and there was still uncertainty about what came next.
“We're really just going based off, he practiced yesterday, everything went good, but it's really going to be about how does he feel today?" Drinkwitz said on Tuesday.
"Because we don't know if he can do a back-to-back practice, and then how does that translate until tomorrow? So there's no timeline on if this, then this, then this.
It's hey, we'll see how today goes, and then we'll figure out what tomorrow looks like and go from there.
"So I don't know if he'll be back for Arkansas. I don't know if he'll be back for Texas.
I don't know if he'll be back for the bowl game. Nobody knows.”
Quarterback Austin Simmons said Tuesday that seeing Hardy back on the practice field had an energy to it.
“It's actually pretty wild seeing him for the first time in a while, going out there doing his job and seeing him make those cuts like he used to back in the day,” Simmons said Tuesday. "He was really excited - did a little Tiger Jacks at the beginning of practice, and you could tell how excited he was.”
Hardy’s return to practice is a notable development considering what came before. Simmons first practiced with him in the spring before Hardy suffered an upper-leg gunshot wound in May, after his SEC-leading season. Hardy led the conference in yards, finished second in the SEC in carries and touchdowns, and set Missouri’s single-season rushing yards record.
With Hardy sidelined, Jamal Roberts has handled the lead role in the Tigers’ backfield after a 124-carry, 753-yard season playing alongside him. As Missouri’s top ball carrier this year, Roberts ranks in the SEC’s top three in carries with 167, rushing yards with 867 and touchdowns with 8.
The Wednesday report listed only Malae Fonoti, Josh Atkins and Gavin Hoffman, all as out. Fonoti and Atkins are done for the season, while Drinkwitz said Hoffman has a path to return later in the year.
Several other key names were absent from the report, including starters Darris Smith, Robert Woodyard Jr. and Cayden Green. Drinkwitz said Tuesday that Woodyard was "working to get back," after a procedure on Oct. 19, and that Green is "always gonna be week-to-week." Smith’s update was more cautious, though Drinkwitz still suggested there’s a chance he suits up Saturday.
“Still not quite where you’d hope he’s got to be,” Drinkwitz said. "He's going to just have to cut it loose and give it a go.
Disappointing for him, I know, just because of the naggingness of this injury. You know, a high ankle sprain, but every day we get a day closer to getting better.”
Arkansas’ report was heavier, with eight Razorbacks listed, including wide receiver Chris Marshall. He is questionable after getting hurt against Vanderbilt.
Marshall leads Arkansas with 633 receiving yards, while the next-closest Razorback has 129. Running back Braylen Russell, the team’s leader in rushing attempts and yards, is probable.
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