The Missouri defense lost some depth recently, and coach Eli Drinkwitz announced at his Tuesday press conference that one of the Tigers’ linebackers has opted out of the season.

Drinkwitz said Aubrey Miller Jr. will not play the rest of this season. Listed as a redshirt junior, Miller played in one game in 2019, as he suffered a knee injury early in the season. He made a pair of tackles against Wyoming last season.

Drinkwitz said the opt outs present an opportunity for other players to fill in.

“It is what is with the opt outs and the players,” Drinkwitz said. “The guys that are here are committed to each other. We’re going to go on with the opportunity to play football this season. We’re playing football this season and we’re going to take the opportunity to take the field and represent this university well.”

He is the seventh player to opt out for the Tigers this season.

Miller was expected to be in the mix for a backup linebacker role this season.

Drinkwitz also said Jarvis Ware (knee) is day-to-day, but hasn’t been ruled out for the Tennessee game. The program also had zero positive tests from Sunday’s COVID test.

The Tigers will kickoff at noon ET against Tennessee on the SEC Network.