Despite being busy with pre-draft activities leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft, Drew Lock was on hand this weekend in Columbia to take in Missouri’s spring game.

No doubt Lock came away impressed with Kelly Bryant as his replacement in Columbia looked the part during the team’s spring game and has already been named Missouri’s starting quarterback by Barry Odom. In addition to how the team looked on the field, Lock added his praise of his former teammates for sticking it out during a tough time after the NCAA announced the program has been given a one-year bowl ban.

While the school is appealing that ruling, in the meantime, seniors are permitted to leave the program without being forced to sit out a year. So far, not a single player has elected to do so despite some attempts from rival programs to recruit Missouri seniors. Most notably, Odom has called out Tennessee for their attempts to lure Missouri seniors to Knoxville.

Lock didn’t call out Tennessee specifically during his appearance at Missouri’s spring game but he made it very clear how he reads into that situation.

“I know there was opportunity for people to leave and people were definitely calling them, trying to get everybody to come to their school but I think that just shows what they think of the university. If you’re calling and trying to steal players, I think you’re probably pretty nervous about who you’re about to play this year,” Lock said to Andrew Kauffman of ABC 17. “That speaks a lot for this place and I’m excited to watch as kind of an outsider this year and pull for a team again.”

The former Missouri quarterback makes a good point as the Tigers whipped up on Tennessee 50-17 last season and return a good deal of production on both sides of the ball this offseason. If Tennessee is going to close the gap on Mizzou, it’s going to have to do so without the help of the seniors on the Tigers’ roster.