Missouri Practice Friday Produces Tweet-Worthy Results

Head Coach Gary Pinkel could barely do enough to contain his glee over his team's practice Friday morning.

Following the first session of what was the Tigers' final two-a-day, a glowing review of the morning's proceedings was posted by an individual who may or may not be Pinkel on the program's official Twitter page:

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"We just had our best practice of the year thus far. Leadership on the team provided a great amount of enthusiasm, and made the day great."

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It's unclear whether the bit of social networking was actually undertaken by Pinkel himself, but the quality of Friday morning's practice certainly did plenty to help the head coach shed his feelings of disgust over Thursday's offensively dysfunctional scrimmage.

With exactly two weeks to go before the season opener against Illinois, several questions remain unanswered, but Friday did much to dispel some of the confusion surrounding the roster:

• Pinkel confirmed Friday that true freshman Kendial Lawrence, who has been largely impressive during camp, would not be redshirted this season. Lawrence will likely be the team's No. 4 running back behind Gilbert Moye.
• For the time being, cornerback Carl Gettis has received the responsibility of returning punts, though safety Jasper Simmons and receiver Jerrell Jackson have been getting consideration as well. Meanwhile, Simmons, who manned the position at Hutchinson Community College a season ago, seems to have all but won the job of returning kickoffs.
• True freshman T.J. Moe practiced without a red medical jersey for the first time all camp on Friday. Originally recruited as a safety, Moe has performed light reps at receiver while recovering from surgery on his foot late last year. Pinkel commented that the decision on whether to redshirt Moe would be a no-brainer were it not for the injury, although it's possible Moe still could see his share of snaps this season.
• An indication of how deep Missouri's talent is becoming along the offensive line, Pinkel said Friday that true freshman Justin Britt, who is currently listed as the No. 3 left tackle on the depth chart, will probably see action this season. The same goes for fellow freshman Jack Meiners, who is listed as a backup but nearly took reps with the first-team offense this week when starting right tackle Dan Hoch went down with a knee injury. Assuming Britt and Meiners do see the field this season, Missouri would have fielded three true freshmen offensive linemen over two seasons. Before the arrival of Hoch last season, who played in all 14 games, no true freshman lineman had played for Missouri in Pinkel's first seven seasons.
• Pinkel discusses Friday's practice below:

The Tigers went through a workout in nothing more than pads and shorts for two and a half hours Saturday morning. The team will adjourn for a few days as classes begin on Monday. Practice is scheduled to resume on Tuesday afternoon, with camp's final scrimmage slated for Thursday.

Lead photo courtesy of Power Mizzou