Three weeks separate Missouri football and the beginning of the 2024 season.

On Thursday, Aug. 29, Mizzou will face Murray State on Faurot Field in Columbia, and the highly anticipated new campaign will be off and running.

On Thursday morning on the MATC fields, a short walk across the bridge that spans Providence Rd. from Memorial Stadium, the Tigers held their ninth practice of preseason camp. Most of the reps taken are focused on fundamentals or are position-specific, intra-unit drills, but every now and then a nugget worth noting crops up.

Here are three observations from Missouri’s most recent couple of practices:

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Drew Pyne looks reliable as backup QB for Missouri football

Take this with a healthy dose of skepticism: The portions of the quarterbacks’ practice open to the media don’t feature pressuring edge rushers or full ball-hawking secondaries and instead are essentially route-running repetitions for receivers with no more than six or seven players involved, offense and defense, at a time.

But the passes Drew Pyne threw during team drills give cause for optimism that the Tigers have found a reliable and capable backup to Brady Cook.

Specifically during 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 drills Wednesday, Pyne showed an accurate arm and good command of the routes his receivers were running — backing up compliments head coach Eli Drinkwitz offered this past Saturday.

Pyne found running back Nate Noel on a corner route over the top of linebacker Triston Newson for a comfortable 20+-yard completion, then dropped another accurate ball over the top to the left sideline in a similar spot for freshman tight end Jude James, who caught the ball ahead of backup linebacker Brayshawn Littlejohn.

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On Thursday during the same style of drill, Pyne completed passes on slant and flat routes through tight coverage to freshman wide receivers James Madison II and Courtney Crutchfield, and then took the top off over freshman cornerback Jaren Sensabaugh for, if you’re inclined to count it, a trip to the end zone for another receiver.

The best throw and play of the drill, however, still went to Cook, who fired an approximately 35-yard pass straight into wide receiver Theo Wease Jr.’s stride on the goal line, well out of sight of the backup cornerback Shamar McNeil in coverage.

Absentees from practice

Wide receiver Marquis Johnson, tight ends Brett Norfleet and Jordon Harris and cornerback Ja’Mariyon Wayne each appeared to be held out of the portions of Wednesday and Thursday’s practices open to the media.

A team spokesperson did not have an update on either Johnson or Norfleet, who figure to be important parts of the Mizzou offense in 2024. Being absent from practice does not necessarily indicate an injury or long-term cause for concern. Drinkwitz is scheduled to speak to the media on Saturday, and will likely be able to provide a more concrete update.

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With both Norfleet and Harris out, freshman tight end Jude James featured more prominently in Thursday’s drills. Tyler Stephens was a frequent recipient of passes during 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 drills Wednesday.

Norfleet caught 197 yards and three touchdowns worth of passes and was named a freshman All-American by College Football Network and The Athletic last season. Johnson’s 13 receptions went for an average of 29.5 yards per haul and he scored three touchdowns as a rookie in 2023. Harris and Wayne were frequent members of the Tigers’ special teams units last year.

Special teams update

While there wasn’t much to report regarding indications of first- and second-team reps, the Tigers did send out what appeared to be their primary kickoff unit.

Blake Craig, the likely placekicker replacing Harrison Mevis this season, appears to have been tabbed to take kickoffs for MU, too. He was joined on the field by cornerbacks Dreyden Norwood and Nicholas DeLoach, safeties Joseph Charleston, Daylan Carnell, Tre’Vez Johnson, Sidney Williams Sr. and Phillip Roche, linebacker Corey Flagg, defensive end Darris Smith and wide receiver Josh Manning.

Manning’s inclusion in defending kickoffs supports what has been mentioned through camp: That he is anticipated to have a prominent role on MU’s special teams units this season, potentially including kick- or punt-return duties.

Craig hasn’t been perfect on field-goal duties through camp with scattered misses, but he did go 3-for-3 during Thursday’s live reps, although his middle-distance kick did flirt with the left upright. He has exhibited plenty of leg but has some work to do on accuracy as he attempts to replace the all-time MU leading points scorer in the role.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: QBs, special teams, absentees: Observations from Missouri football camp