Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz says Ahmad Hardy is recovering well more than two weeks after the Missouri junior suffered a gunshot wound to his leg on May 10 in Laurel, Mississippi. The timeline for a return to football remains uncertain.
Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy is back home and out of the hospital, but the moment fans are waiting for still has no date.
More than two weeks after the Missouri junior suffered a gunshot wound to the upper leg. coach Eliah Drinkwitz said Hardy is doing “really well” and is “on the road to recovery.” Hardy has been released from the hospital and returned to Columbia. yet Drinkwitz said it’s still too early to map out when he can get back on the field.
“We’re a long away from knowing what the football side of it will be,” Drinkwitz said at SEC spring meetings. He added that from an overall health standpoint, “he’ll be just fine.”
Hardy’s return is complicated by the fact that the injury came from a type of situation where teams don’t have a clear, standardized playbook. “There are not a lot of return-to-play protocol with this particular type of (situation),” Drinkwitz said.
The shooting happened on May 10 in Laurel, Mississippi, at the Kamikazy Biker Club. Hardy was treated and underwent surgery at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Laurel Police Department Sgt. Macon Davis told the Kansas City Star that Hardy was in the passenger seat of a vehicle while attempting to leave a concert at the biker club when he was shot. Hardy was not believed to have been involved in the events leading up to the shooting and was described as an innocent bystander. according to the Star.
After the hospital, Hardy posted a video to social media on May 20. In it, he thanked supporters for their prayers and said, “I’m back on the road to success.”
Drinkwitz said he expects to have more information about Hardy’s timeline for returning to football “in a couple of months.” Hardy also made his absence especially visible to the program: he led the SEC in rushing last season.
At this stage, the plan is straightforward and limited—recovery first, football second. Drinkwitz’s comments leave no doubt that the hardest part for the team isn’t only waiting for healing, but waiting for clarity on how and when Hardy’s return-to-play process can even begin.
Ahmad Hardy Missouri Tigers Eliah Drinkwitz SEC spring meetings gunshot wound return-to-play protocol Forrest General Hospital Laurel Mississippi