Cayden Green’s week just got a little brighter.
The Football Writers Association of America named the Mizzou offensive lineman its Outland Trophy National Player of the Week after his work in the Tigers’ 45-17 win over Florida. Green was a steady wall all game long, extending a three-week run without allowing a pressure, sack or QB hit. Mizzou’s ground game fed off that kind of stability, rolling up 220 rushing yards.
Per the FWAA, Green is now the second Tiger to earn the weekly honor, joining Dominick Giudice in 2025.
Elsewhere around Mizzou, there still isn’t a new timeline for Ahmad Hardy. Drinkwitz said Hardy has not yet been cleared to start the two-week practice ramp-up, and that the running back is working hard but remains without a timetable for return.
“As soon as I get an update that’s worth sharing, I promise I will,” Drinkwitz said. “I know everybody’s frustrated, I know he’s frustrated.
I’m not trying to be frustrated. When he’s ready, he’s ready.”
On the football notes front, Austin Simmons also spoke about what has stood out to him at Mizzou, especially the relationships inside the program.
On the culture difference at Mizzou: “I came from a program that used to have a whole lot of transfers and a whole lot of newcomers coming in, so it was nothing really new for me. But as far as like the connection goes, I’ve never seen anything like it before.
I’ve talked to guys I’ve never thought I would speak to before; I’m really close with the specialists, I’m really close with defensive players like Sione. And as far as friendships go, I think I’m gonna have friends that last a lifetime.”
There was also more good news on the hardwood and beyond. Mizzou women’s golf finished second at the OU Intercollegiate after posting its best round of the event, a 9-under-par team score in the third round Tuesday at Wichita Country Club in Wichita, Kansas.
That came after the Tigers opened with a 1-over total and followed with a 3-under round. Addie Dobson turned in another strong showing to help secure the runner-up finish, and Mizzou now heads to Medinah, Illinois, for the Illini Women’s Invitational.
Grace Slaughter’s final season is drawing attention, too, with the WNBA very much in the picture. Slaughter has been chasing that goal since before Kellie Harper’s staff arrived at Mizzou, and the Tigers’ coaches have spent the past year helping her learn what it takes to make the leap.
Slaughter has also taken a lot of that development into her own hands. Last season, she led Mizzou with 18.7 points per game.
And in basketball scheduling news, Mizzou will face Indiana for the first time since 2004 when the Tigers travel to Assembly Hall. Indiana’s portal work drew the kind of results that should make the Hoosiers a tournament team, with early BartTorvik.com projections placing them 28th overall, around a 6-7 seed level rather than Final Four territory.
In Other News...
Missouri Freshman DJ Jones Faces A Far Bigger Fight Than Football
Missouri freshman offensive lineman DJ Jones has spent this season dealing with something far bigger than the normal grind of a college football fall. Jones underwent a heart transplant and is recovering, coach Eli Drinkwitz said, after preseason evaluations uncovered a significant heart problem that sent him to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
Jones has not played this season and remains away from the team while Missouri continues its games, a reminder that his journey is now measured in medical updates rather than reps or snap counts. For a freshman trying to begin his college career, the focus has shifted entirely to recovery, and the Tigers are left pulling for a much more important comeback than anything on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Fans Finally Got The Update They Needed On DJ Jones
Missouri fans got the update they had been hoping for on freshman offensive tackle Johnnie DJ Jones, who recently underwent a successful heart transplant and is now recovering. The need for the procedure was discovered during the Tigers freshmen intake, turning what should have been an ordinary start to college football into a deeply personal medical battle for one of the programs newest players.
Jones was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where the care team and donor family drew gratitude from coach Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri community. For a team and fan base that had been following the situation closely, the news brings a measure of relief, even as Jones begins the long next stretch of recovery. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzous Front Seven Faces A Much Tougher Test This Week
Missouris front seven spent last week making life miserable for Florida on the ground, holding the Gators to 42 rushing yards on 25 carries and limiting running back Jadan Baugh to 13 yards on 12 attempts. Linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez was rewarded for his part in that effort, earning SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week after piling up 11 tackles, a strong sign that the Tigers are getting consistent play from the middle of their defense.
The challenge changes quickly now, with Texas A&M bringing a different kind of problem to the table in quarterback Marcel Reed. Eli Drinkwitz and Missouris players have been stressing sound tackling and clean execution as the week goes on, because the front seven will need to carry over the same urgency against a much more mobile threat and do it without any drop in focus. [Read more 🡒]