The questions started some time around the 13th of May. The first 48 hours were reserved for making sure Ahmad Hardy was alive, that he would eventually be fully healthy.
After those things were established, the next question was natural and nobody should feel bad for having wanted to ask it: When will Ahmad Hardy play football for the Missouri Tigers again?
Missouri football head coach Eli Drinkwitz provided an update Thursday on the injury progress for running back Ahmad Hardy, who was injured by a gunshot in May.
Drinkwitz appeared as a guest on ‘The Paul Finebaum Show’ on Thursday and discussed Hardy’s progress. Hardy has not yet returned to practice for Missouri.
‘The whole situation is we’re trying to get to a two-week ramp-up period where he could be at least what he was last year, right,’ Drinkwitz said of Hardy. ‘So there’s a certain set of metrics that you’re going to have to be able to do in order to do that. And right now, just with the significance of the injury, it’s just taking a while for his body to get back into a place where he can run and move the way he needs to in order to play the game at the highest level, which is to be the best running back in college football.’
During the 2025 season, Hardy ran for 1,649 yards on 256 carries with 16 rushing touchdowns for Missouri.
‘We haven’t given up hope, but you know, it’s just taking a little bit longer than what the hope of our team would be,’ Drinkwitz said.
Hardy was shot in the upper leg in May while attending an outdoor concert in Laurel, Mississippi. He underwent surgery following the injury.
