An upset-minded Missouri stormed the field in Atlanta on Dec. 6, hoping its relentless pass rush could knock Alabama off its game.

Early in the second quarter, though, SEC Defensive Player of the Year Shane Ray got ejected after drilling a defenseless Blake Sims under the chin.

The abrupt ending to Ray’s day may not have changed the outcome — the Crimson Tide won 42-13 — but it changed the complexion of the game for the Tigers defense.

Just weeks later, Ray and Sims started training for the NFL Combine together in Boca Raton, Fla.

“Me and Blake train together, so I talk to him every day,” Ray told reporters at the NFL Combine on Saturday afternoon. “Honestly, it’s a football play and it happened. Me and Blake are actually pretty good friends.”

The Alabama quarterback shrugged off the hit after the game and didn’t seem particularly animated on the field immediately after, though it helped that he threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to DeAndrew White on the play.

“It was just football,” Sims said after the SEC championship game. “He hit me. I felt it, you know, he’s a very big guy. He’s a great player at the same time. He’s just playing football the way he does.”

Ray did not participate in drills at the Combine due to a lingering toe injury, but he and Sims probably shared a good laugh at some point in Indianapolis, as their time overlapped. It sounds like they’ve become pretty good friends.

“I talk to (Sims’) family,” Ray told reporters at the Combine. “They say any time that I’m in their area, I’m welcome to have a place to stay. I got over it and he got over it.”

Some NFL draft media analysts have suggested that Sims may want to try another position if he’s to secure a pro football career. Perhaps if that ever materializes he can point to his toughness and nonchalance  shown on this play.

Assuming Ray can alleviate his current injury, he’s a potential Top 10 pick in the draft. But if he wants to retain his big signing bonus, he’d better learn not to drill defenseless NFL quarterbacks. Commissioner Roger Goodell and company don’t take too kindly to that tactic.

“One thing I learned from going after quarterbacks is, especially going to the NFL, I have to aim a lot lower and wrap up their legs instead of trying to get a hit on them and just bring them to the ground,” Ray said. “That would probably be the safer thing to do.”