Mizzou senior right guard Jack Meiners was taken off the field during a Thursday scrimmage with an apparent injury to his left leg. According to Dave Matter of the Columbia Daily Tribune, head coach Gary Pinkel said it was a strained left knee, though later reports from College Football News indicated it could be a high ankle sprain.
Meiners has played in every Mizzou football game in his three years in Columbia, earning seven starts at left guard last season, and was widely considered one of the most important pieces of the Tiger offense for 2012. He becomes the third injured contributor on Mizzou's offensive line, joining guard Travis Ruth (torn tricep) and tackle Taylor Chappell (torn ACL). Those losses make up 14 of Mizzou's 68 returning offensive line starts and leave the team woefully thin across the front line. Matter reports that junior Max Copeland moved to right guard following Meiners' injury, with freshman Evan Boehm taking snaps at left guard.
Mizzou opens its season against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 1, and is scheduled to face sixth-ranked Georgia the following week in its first game as a member of the SEC.
For more information on Missouri football, go to Rock M Nation. For all the latest college football news, check out SB Nation's College Football Hub.