Notebook, Observations from Mizzou's Fall Camp Practice 8/19

Welcome to the final notebook of Mizzou's fall camp practice. For the last two weeks and change, I've been attending every Mizzou football fall camp practice and releasing my thoughts and observationsn about each practice in these articles.

Per usual, the media was allowed to observe five periods of practice Wednesday morning. Without further ado, here's everything I saw.

Special Teams

Differentiating from the typical practice schedule, the kickers did not open with extra points and field goals on the main fields. About 15 minutes into the viewing period, I noticed a few kickers and punters were off to the side on a third field.

The Tigers were running a few return drills, though, as freshmen tailbacks Max Warner and Preston Hatfield and walk-on running back Brady Hultman were returning kicks against a full return coverage team. That's the third time I've spotted Hatfield doing some sort of return drill — that could be how the freshman carves his niche early on.

"Everybody wants to play as a freshman, you know, but sometimes that's not how the role ends up," Junior safety Trajen Greco said Tuesday. "Being able to play my freshman year on special teams was a blessing."

One-on-One's

Defensive backs were matching up with wideouts to play one-on-one coverage for a route. I observed about a dozen of those matchups, most of which the defensive back seemed to won. Naeshaun Montgomery, a three-star sophomore transfer from Florida, made a good catch through contact.

The most spectacular catch of the day was made by three-star true freshman wideout Jabari Brady. While hauling in his catch, though, Brady landed awkwardly on his leg and remained on the ground for a few minutes after the reception. Brady was eventually helped up by two staff members, who helped him walk a few yards before he was carted off the field.

Mizzou will not practice Thursday, then will hold a closed practice Friday and a closed scrimmage Saturday night. Eli Drinkwitz will speak to the media after the scrimmage.

Mizzou will open its season against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at the new-look Memorial Stadium.

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