Eli Drinkwitz explains why he isn’t putting timeline on Ahmad Hardy’s return
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Running back Jamal Roberts has been a workhorse for the Missouri Tigers in 2026. The St. Louis native has already set career highs in every rushing category — 167 carries, 867 yards, eight touchdowns — this year. He has operated as Batman instead of Robin because of Ahmad Hardy’s recovery from a gunshot wound and performed well in the spotlight.
Hardy, the SEC’s leading rusher in 2025, returned to practice on Monday. Mizzou fans, with no disrespect to Roberts, are anxious to see Hardy resume his role as the Caped Crusader in their offense. It’s this exact reason that head coach Eli Drinkwitz isn’t estimating when Hardy will actually return to game action.
“I really don’t have a timeline,” Drinkwitz told reporters on Tuesday. “For me to put an artificial timeline on that creates an expectation and then disappointment… [if] he can’t meet something he has no control over… I don’t know if he’ll be back for Arkansas… [or] Texas… [or] the bowl game. Nobody knows.”
Eli Drinkwitz shares lengthy update on Ahmad Hardy after the Mizzou RB returned to practice this week: “There’s nobody we’ve had that has gone through this, so for me to put an artificial timeline (on Hardy’s return) creates an expectation and disappointment on you & the fans.” https://t.co/JbgO5DdkQ7
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 27, 2026
Drinkwitz said the Tigers’ staff has always expected Hardy to need at least “two weeks of being back into football” to “figure everything out.” He needs to see evidence Hardy can “sustain competitive success” before he’ll let him touch the field.
“Can his body respond? Can he protect himself… get to full speed?” Drinkwitz asked. “There’s a lot there… it’s a lot more challenging than a hamstring injury or ACL injury or something like that. The invasive nature of the recovery… there’s a lot of things there that have to go right continuously for him… to return to play football at a high level.”
For now, Roberts will continue holding things down atop the depth chart. Missouri will battle Arkansas under the lights in Fayetteville on Halloween (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
