Eli Drinkwitz credits hospital for role in getting Brady Cook back vs. Auburn

Brady Cook’s injury saga over the weekend prior to a comeback against Auburn has been well covered: An injury, a trip to the hospital across the street, an MRI, and a shock return to lead Missouri to a win.

And head coach Eli Drinkwitz noted that such a fast turnaround couldn’t happen on the road. That’s in part geography — Missouri’s football stadium is basically across the street from the university’s hospital system — and part the work of the staff on hand.

Drinkwitz lauded them for their efforts on Saturday.

“If it’s not a home game, we’re not able to get over to MU Health and we’re not able to get the MRI and we’re not able to get that read in a timely manner,” Drinkwitz said days removed from the win. “That’s the one time I was very thankful that games lasted three and a half hours. Because if it was a two and a half hour game, it probably wouldn’t have happened. No, it wouldn’t be a possibility if you weren’t at home and very fortunate for MU Healthcare.”

He continued, using the opportunity to take a victory lap waving the banner for Missouri.

“And it’s another reason why this is one of the best universities in the world,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s an AAU institution. It’s got — we’re the state school and a land-grant institution and got the ability to have your own healthcare. We got several players on our team and Chuck Hicks child was born a couple weeks ago over at MU Healthcare and got a few more that’ll be coming. So it’s an awesome thing.” 

Cook detailed his experience going through mid-game triage

After the game, Cook shared what happened when he went to the hospital following his injury, as well as his mindset regarding why it was so important for him to return to the game.

“It was long,” Cook said. “It was a long hour and a half for sure. I did not think I was gonna come back to play in the game. My stuff was off, my pads were off. We worked on it for about an hour and a half we were at the hospital. Got an MRI. Ultimately, I realized I had 2 1/2 games left to play in Faurot [Field] in front of that crowd and in front of Mizzou and we were going to find a way. I knew we were down. I knew we needed to comeback and find a way to win this game. You know, we lose that game, the rest of our season looks a little different. I recognize that and I knew we needed to go win it.”

Initially, Cook left the game with what appeared to be a non-contact injury. Those are always scary, so it’s not a surprise that Cook was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to get back into the game. He was even labeled as “not likely to return,” before he got the surprising news that he’d be able to get back in the game.

“I was very convinced that I was not gonna come back. I took my pads off,” Cook said. “My stuff was off. I was pretty positive I wasn’t coming back. There was one more thing we ended up trying. One more last really ditch effort, and it worked. It worked and immediately I knew. Immediately we re-taped, re-spatted. Did everything we needed to do and it was checked off and I ran out, and that was that.”