Missouri strapped the pads on for the first time this spring season and took Devine Pavilion field for Saturday morning’s practice – the third of 14 prior to the spring game on April 19.

This was the first of those practices the Tigers were allowed to wear full pads and engage in contact drills, which raised the intensity level and the fan interest.

About a 100 people watched from both field level and the perch inside the pavilion. Included in that group were SLUH’s Ronnie Wingo, Gateway’s Sheldon Richardson, Fort Zumwalt West’s T.J. Moe, Chaminade’s Jack Meiners, Strafford’s Tyler Evans, and Blue Springs South’s Blaine Dalton, among other recruits. Incoming freshmen Wes Kemp and Robert Steeples were also there.

More college coaches found their way to Columbia as well. Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen was jotting notes. If you remember, Missouri credited current Florida head coach Urban Meyer, whom the Missouri coaches knew from his time at Bowling Green, for giving the Tigers the foundation for the spread offense they currently run. It’s interesting that Florida is now taking notes from Missouri. Coaches from Colorado State were also in attendance.

And they had a lot to see. Since this was Missouri’s first padded practice, the Tigers were ready to hit for the first time since January. Receiver Jeremy Maclin was the recipient of a couple of the harder hits of the day, including one that knocked his helmet off and left him gasping for his breath in the end zone.

Maclin was running a go route during 7-on-7 drills. As the ball started to drop into his path, he was sandwiched between two defenders, sending him to the ground and his helmet flying. Injured safety William Moore picked up the helmet and raised it in the air like a prize while Maclin took a knee in the end zone.

About an hour later, Maclin was streaming down the field with the ball during 11-on-11 drills and looked to have a clear path to the end zone after corner Castine Bridges got knocked to the ground. But as Maclin started to jump over Bridges, Bridges raised his arm and clipped Maclin sending him flying through the air and landing hard on his back. The moments following that player were probably the quietest the Devine Pavilion has ever been as everyone waited for Maclin to get up. But he popped back up and ran back to his offensive teammates seemingly unscathed.

Remember when Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops gave Adrian Peterson a special jersey so he couldn’t be hit? Yeah, might want to invest in one of those for Maclin. Especially since there were more players donning the red jerseys today, signifying major injuries.

* Offensive lineman J.T. Beasley suffered a dislocated right shoulder in practice on Thursday and missed Saturday’s practice. Coach Gary Pinkel said the shoulder popped itself back in place, but Beasley would have an MRI today to see if anything was torn.
* Tight end Jon Gissinger suffered a hamstring pull in Thursday’s practice and was limited on Saturday. He practiced, but not at full strength.
* Walk-on receiver Michael Oldroyd was in a full-length knee immobilizer. I didn’t find out what happened to him, but it’s probably a tear.
* The rest of the in jury list was the same as it’s been the last two practices: Moore (shoulder), Danario Alexander (knee), Mack Breed (broken wrists), Andrew Gachkar (blood clots), Steve Redmond (shoulder), and Hardy Ricks (shoulder).

Some other news and notes from practice…

** Tight end Chase Coffman wore a red bib for part of Saturday’s practice, but shed it for 11 on 11. He made a couple really nice catches during practice, including a diving catch during 7 on 7. He did seem to hobble a little toward the end of 11 on 11, but it didn’t stop him from finishing practice.

** With Beasley sidelined, right guard Kurtis Gregory took a few snaps at center. He told me the coaches asked him about playing center prior to spring practices and that he was probably going to get a few reps regardless of whether Beasley had been injured. It’s similar to the role Mike Cook played a couple years ago. Gregory said he’s been working with graduate assistant Matt Rahl, who is completing his first season with the Tigers.

“It’s been really interesting,” Gregory said. “Coach has always said he’s wanted an extra guard that could play center so he thought that was me. Tim (Barnes) has helped me out a lot. Just listening to (Adam) Spieker and Tim talk to each other last year, and coach Rahl and everybody’s been helping me out, so I guess I’m getting it down. I’m not going to say I’m a pro by any means, but I’m getting there.”

** And keeping with the injury theme… Danario Alexander did a couple light, non-contact drills with the receivers. One of those drills had coach Andy Hill throwing the ball over the head of a jogging receiver and the receiver locating it to catch it. Alexander seemed fine in this drill until his cleat stuck in the field turf and caused him to tweak his knee a bit. He did the drill one more time, but went back to the sideline for all the contact drills. He was still sporting the full red jersey.

** More on Alexander… While standing on the sideline during 11 on 11, Alexander started calling out the signals for his teammates. He was doing to the hand motions to complement coach Hill, who was also signaling plays.

“I’m bored in practice so it gives me something to do,” Alexander said. “The coach gives the play and I just do the signal. It helps me remember the plays, too. Some guys are watching me. I think Tommy watches me, and JP (Jared Perry) watches me too when he’s here. I’m just out there for fun.”

** Speaking of Jared Perry… He missed Saturday’s practice to attend his brother’s wedding. Pinkel jokingly remarked that he needs to tell his players not to schedule weddings during spring practice.

** With Perry out, walk-on Blake May was the starting X-receiver, and the second-string receiving corps were walk-on laden as well. There were a couple walk-ons that raised some eyebrows, namely Forrest Shock and Columbia Rock Bridge product Brandon Gerau, but no one (at least that I see right now) that’s going to make a big impact in the fall. Wes Kemp must have been salivating on the sideline at the prospect of breaking into the Tigers’ two-deep in the fall.

** There was a lot of switching between the players on the first and second strings. Quarterback Chase Patton played with the ones quite a bit as did running back Derrick Washington. Washington said the competition for running back is heating up, but is still friendly between the players. Washington said he still has a lot of stuff to work on before he can climb up the depth.

“(Running backs) Coach (Brian) Jones has been telling me that I need to finish all my runs,” Washington said. “I can’t stop, I’ve got to keep going. I’ve been working on that and I think I’m getting better at that. It’s going to be competition, regardless, at any position. The running backs are going to be a rotation, but everyone wants that No. 1 spot.”

** That No. 1 spot is held by senior-to-be Jimmy Jackson, who’s done nothing to lose his job during the last three practices. I remarked that he seemed faster while busting though the line, and he said MU defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus told him the same thing. But Jackson maintains that he hasn’t done anything different during the offseason. He hasn’t gained any muscle or lost any fat, and his last 40-yard dash time was about 4.5 seconds. Jackson will take the compliments, though, as he strives to hold on to the starting running back spot despite intense competition.

“Of course it’s pressure, you always want to keep your spot, but I’ve been up and down the chart throughout my career, so you can’t be nervous, you just have to go out there and play the game,” Jackson said. “I know what it’s like to be at the bottom, I know what it’s like to be at the top, and I want to stay at the top.”

Jackson said the coaches aren’t telling him too many things he needs to work on, but personally, he wants to be a better receiver and is working with the receivers to accomplish that.

** A lot of offense talk in this post today, but the defense dominated Saturday’s practice. At one point, the defense was leading the offense by 20 points in Missouri’s backward scoring system. While I can’t explain the scoring system, I can tell you that the defense almost never leads. The Maclin hits mentioned above were just two examples of a day’s worth of contact that sent the defensive sideline into a frenzied state throughout most of practice.

** One last note of interest… I was listening to 610 AM in Kansas City on my way back from the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament as they were previewing the Kansas/Nebraska game. The show had a Nebraska official on and he was talking about spring football. According to this official, Nebraska had already sold 40,000 tickets to the spring game and was expecting to sell it out.

Just pointing that out as spring game tickets go on sale Monday. Seems like the No. 4 team in the nation should also be able to sell out its nationally televised spring game, too.

Missouri resumes spring practice on Tuesday.