COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri wide receiver Nate Brown will miss 6-8 weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain. Coach Barry Odom confirmed Wednesday Brown injured his ankle in Monday's practice. He was held out Tuesday as a precaution.
Brown led Missouri with four touchdowns in 2015, while also hauling in 27 passes for 326 receiving yards. He was in projected to start opposite J'Mon Moore with graduate transfer Chris Black occupying the slot.
The junior had been drawing praise in camp for his chemistry with sophomore quarterback Drew Lock. He was a four-star recruit from North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Ga., in from Missouri's 2014 recruiting class.
Missouri has a host of young, inexperienced receivers who could replace Brown. Eric Laurent, Justin Smith, Johnathon Johnson, Ray Wingo, Keyon Dilosa, DeSean Blair, Dominic Collins and Dimetrios Mason have all had their names surface in camp as players who could possibly have breakout seasons.
If Brown only takes the best-case scenario six weeks to heal he would miss the first four games of Missouri's season, and be set to return Oct. 1 at LSU. Brown could be medically redshirted if he has any setbacks in his recovery that cause him to miss most of, or the entire, season.