Eli Drinkwitz on Brady Cook returning vs. Alabama: 'We're gonna cut it loose'

The big question for Missouri heading into Saturday was the status of Brady Cook. He left last week’s game with an ankle injury before returning, but he’s going to give it a go against Alabama – and Eli Drinkwitz said the Tigers plan to open up the offense and “cut it loose.”

Cook went down in the first quarter of last week’s game against Auburn and later headed across the street to the hospital for testing. However, he quickly returned and helped lead Mizzou to the 21-17 victory.

As for his status against Alabama, it looked “pessimistic” earlier in the week, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. Cook was listed as doubtful on Wednesday’s injury report but became questionable by Friday. He then jumped under center as the starting quarterback on Saturday, and Drinkwitz said the plan was to let it rip.

“We’re gonna cut it loose today,” Drinkwitz told ABC’s Katie George ahead of kickoff. “We’re gonna go attack them and see how the game plays out.”

Cook returned to last week’s game as Mizzou trailed Auburn by 14 points. He finished 11-of-22 passing for 194 yards as Missouri went on to complete the comeback and get the 21-17 victory.

In the days following that win, Cook wasn’t able to participate in practice very much, George later said on the broadcast. But Drinkwitz expressed confidence in his veteran starter and said that was the deciding factor in starting him against Alabama.

“Due to the ankle injury, Brady Cook was unable to practice much for Missouri this week,” George said. “Now, he was able to go through walk-through on Thursday, but that was about it. So he’s been on the sideline, stretching, using the Theragun on his glutes and hamstrings.

“Worth mentioning that Eli Drinkwitz said this is the first time he’s ever played a quarterback after not practicing much in the week. But he felt like since Cook is a three-year starter, a veteran, established, that he had confidence in doing so.”

Cook entered Saturday’s game completing 63.1% of his passes for 1,545 yards and seven touchdowns through seven starts this year. Missouri is coming off back-to-back wins entering the matchup with Alabama and will look to stay in the heated SEC race.