Want a Brady Cook update?

Well, just like Tuesday’s polls: Get in line.

The Missouri football quarterback, per Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz, has “done everything in his power to prepare himself to play” against Oklahoma this upcoming Saturday on Faurot Field, but Cook has been given no official availability designation. Additional updates won’t be made public until Wednesday evening’s SEC-mandated availability report.

Those are Drinkwitz’s words.

“I know y’all are going to ask me about injuries,” Drinkwitz said during his media availability Tuesday. “I’ll welcome all the questions you wanna ask, and I will defer to the injury (availability) report (that) will be released tomorrow night … as competitive equity within the SEC.”

In the event Cook cannot play, Drinkwitz said that Drew Pyne will remain as Missouri’s backup option.

Despite Pyne’s two underwhelming performances in relief as Cook exited both of MU’s games against Auburn and Alabama seemingly with two separate injuries, the decision to keep him as the Tigers’ No. 2 was expected.

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Pyne threw three picks in his first four drives after entering the Alabama game as Cook went to the locker room with an injury to his hand/wrist area. The week before against Auburn, when Cook went to a nearby hospital midgame with a high-ankle sprain, Pyne led one scoring drive — a field goal — in seven full drives before Cook returned to lead a fourth-quarter comeback.

“I mean, we put (Pyne) in some bad situations and we've got to protect better, we’ve got to establish the run better and we can't turn the ball over," Drinkwitz said. … “Quarterback is not a position without errors. We've all had tough days at that position, but we have confidence in Drew, and Drew's practiced well and our team's behind him if that's what it needs to be.

“But, that's definitely not been decided yet."

Cook is likely to appear on Missouri’s availability report as “doubtful” or “questionable,” as was the case leading up to the Alabama game.

SEC teams are required to release availability reports on each of the three nights leading up to an in-conference matchup, with reports typically publishing at approximately 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before a final report is submitted 90 minutes before kickoff on Saturdays.

The possible availability destinations for players, from most likely to play to least likely, are: available; probable; questionable; doubtful; out.

Cook had an X-ray during the Alabama game, seemingly after sustaining an injury to his throwing hand, which has left MU in a bit of a lurch as the team is short on Power-conference experience behind its starter and backup.

Preferred walk-on transfer JR Blood played two snaps in MU’s loss to Alabama, seemingly making him the Tigers’ No. 3 option. Three-star freshman Aiden Glover is likely next in line, although, somewhat unsurprisingly with an embedded starter on campus, has not looked particularly close to challenging the lineup as a rookie.

Missouri may have been able to turn to former four-star Sam Horn, but the redshirt sophomore is sitting out this season as he recovers from offseason Tommy John surgery.

There will be no way for local media to check and see who is taking the starting quarterback reps, as Mizzou closed the doors to the portion of its Tuesday practice that is typically made available to reporters for the second straight game week.

Mizzou has kept mostly quiet on the subject of Cook’s status since he left the Alabama game. Last Wednesday on the SEC Football Coaches Teleconference, Drinkwitz said, “We're focused in on trying to treat the whole body and getting healthy. Spirit, soul, mind, body — all of it.”

He wasn't much less vague with four days until OU comes to town.

So, here we go again. The countdown to Wednesday’s report begins.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football injury update for Brady Cook, contingency QB plans