Mizzou Football: Just how healthy is Kelly Bryant?

Mizzou football had some questions about the health of their starting quarterback Kelly Bryant. Were they answered against Ole Miss?

The success or failure of Mizzou football rides on their starting quarterback. After losing some key pieces on defense last year, they knew this would be a challenging year. However, the landing of Kelly Bryant as a graduate transfer gave them hope, and they have been riding with that hope all season.

A couple of weeks ago, Bryant suffered a gruesome knee injury, but it turned out to be just a sprain. Many didn’t expect him to be back so quick. In fact, some thought he might be out for the season. However, he never missed a practice and was able to start against Ole Miss.

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It’s not just about availability when injuries happen. Just because you can get on the field doesn’t mean you’re able to be the same player. With the success of the offense riding on Bryant, it was crucial for him to be as close to his same old self as possible. How did he do?

In terms of his passing ability, I think it’s safe to say that Bryant didn’t skip a beat. He might not have been perfect on the day, but he’s not a perfect passer to begin with. The offense sputtered early, but that was partially because of special teams errors keeping the ball out of their hands. In the second half, things got rolling.

If anything, Bryant wasn’t as mobile as he usually was. He doesn’t like to run as much as he did at Clemson, but was just getting nowhere when he ran. Whether it was from the injury or just the mental block that comes after getting hurt, we’ll have to see. I don’t think that will be a long-term issue, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

On the bright side, the Tigers have a couple of easier games. The thing with Missouri is that they have one of the easier schedules through October. They don’t have to play any of the premier teams in the SEC West, and they get both Florida and Georgia late in the season. Expect Bryant to progress through these easier games and get healthy for the games that will determine the winner of the division later down the road.

As long as Bryant continues to get better and doesn’t aggravate that injury, I think the Tigers will be fine through the next couple of weeks. As long as he is comfortable on the run by the time they have to play Georgia and Florida, Missouri should be fine.