The Missouri Tigers have had a rough fall camp in terms of tight end health, with starter Albert Okwuegbunam and top backup Daniel Parker Jr. missing time.

That has led to more opportunities for junior Brendan Scales, though, and he’d been a surprise of camp so far.

However, on Thursday, coach Barry Odom revealed that Scales had broken a bone in his foot on Wednesday (via Dave Matter of STLToday.com):

Junior tight end Brendan Scales underwent surgery Thursday morning for a broken bone in his foot, the fifth metatarsal, he suffered Wednesday, Odom said. He’s expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Obviously, that 6-8 week timeline includes several regular-season games, so it’s a tough break for the Tigers.

Even if Okwuegbunam and Parker are able to come back for Week 1, Scales had played well enough during camp to earn some playing time this fall.