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It looks like the prognosis on the injury James Franklin suffered during the Georgia game is indeed going to be better than originally reported. If only slightly better than originally reported. Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel said today that it will be a bit shorter than six weeks.
Pinkel: Franklin out 3-5 weeks
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) October 14, 2013
That's good news for Missouri, but not the best news in the world. That timetable still leaves Franklin missing home games against Florida and South Carolina that will essentially decide the Tigers' fate in the SEC East. It's by no means impossible to see Mizzou winning either or even both of those games without Franklin, but it does make the degree of difficult just a little bit harder.
That said, if Missouri can get through the next two games, the schedule plays out nicely. Tennessee and Kentucky follow the remaining SEC East heavyweights, and a bye makes it even more likely that Franklin will be back under center for the trip to Oxford and the long-awaited home game against Texas A&M.
So if Missouri is still undefeated heading into late November, it will have Franklin back needing only a split to make its way to Atlanta. That might be easier said than done, but today's news at least makes the latter part of that scenario more likely.