'I'm my Biggest Critic': Beau Pribula is Learning From Early Mistakes With Mizzou

Despite holding onto a 5-0 record and being the No. 14 team in the country, the Missouri Tigers have plenty of areas to improve in.

One of those areas, or players, is quarterback Beau Pribula. Though the Tigers handled business in Week 5 against UMass, it became clear that there were a few areas in which Pribula needed to improve, primarily in his pocket presence, footwork and awareness.

Luckily for head coach Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers as a whole, Pribula is fixated on constantly improving his game and correcting his glaring mistakes from previous matchups in order to be ready for Alabama and the rest of the SEC schedule.

"I always want to get better, and even after a great performance, I'm my biggest critic," Pribula said on Tuesday. "I always look at the things that I need to improve and that's just the inner job of wanting to be the best version of myself."

Drinkwitz and the coaching staff have quickly picked up on Pribula's ability to take criticism and value that in his skill set. This allows him to improve and not become complacent, which is important this early in the season.

Drinkwitz also noted that Pribula was one of the "most coachable quarterbacks" he'd ever been around. The list of quarterbacks that Drinkwitz has coached extends to Brady Cook, Ryan Finley with NC State and Brett Rypien with Boise State.

"He has the right mentality on trying to grow and trying to get better, and utilizes all the different aspects he can," Drinkwitz said.

Despite being a coachable and understanding player, a few of the errors that continue to appear in Pribula's film shouldn't be swept under the rug.

Pribula's been far too antsy in the pocket, either creeping up too far into it or being too patient and staying still. Finding the right line in between the two, while also knowing when to take off and run, is something that needs to continue to improve for the senior quarterback.

His mistakes and presence in the pocket have yet to cost the Tigers any games, but have resulted in a few turnovers. Pribula and the Missouri offense won't have the same leeway in Week 7 against Alabama.

"This game is too complex and too complicated to be played without some errors," Drinkwitz said. "Just can't have compounding errors."

Missouri's offensive line has been somewhat unreliable this season, but many of the mistakes that Pribula has made in the pocket have been self-inflicted. Whether it was his pocket-climbing that led to a deflected pass and interception against UMass, or his mis-timed ball against South Carolina, he's making the mistakes himself.

Moving too high into the pocket has resulted in some of those turnovers as well, including the one against the Minutemen. It's something that needs to get cleaned up, but something that the Tiger coaching staff has seen before.

"We use the term, take the space you need, but only the space you need," Drinkwitz said. "I think sometimes quarterbacks can be a little bit too antsy to push up in the pocket. You got to be able to just have subtle pocket movements to find the space to fit those balls."

READ: Eli Drinkwitz Evaluates Beau Pribula Through 5 Games

Pribula is critical of himself and loves to learn from his mistakes, but he does believe there's a mixture of criticism and positivity.

"Continuing to do that without being too hard on myself at the same time, I got to get a fair balance," Pribula said. "But ["I'm] always trying to be the best version of myself."

With all of that being said, Pribula has certainly surprised some people with his ability to throw the football. For a quarterback who was known for his mobility, he's proved he's more than capable of slinging it around.

"I think he's such an accurate passer, he's finding ways to just continue to throw the football, outsmart the defense, not just out-tough the defense, or out-physical the defense, with his skill set," Drinkwitz said.

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