Boston Celtics wing Gordon Hayward made a surprising return to the rotation on Dec. 9 after he was expected to be out until around Christmas due to a broken hand.

However, Hayward's return was somewhat brief in nature. He was ruled out of Wednesday night's game against the Dallas Mavericks due to a foot injury.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said that Hayward's foot had been giving him problems even before the hand injury, and Hayward even had an MRI three weeks ago.

This is the last thing Celtic fans want to hear.

Hayward actually looked pretty strong in his return. He scored 14 points on 7-of-10 in his first game back and poured in 19 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds in over 36 minutes against the Philadelphia 76ers last week.

He was perhaps not quite as authoritative on the offensive end as he had been prior to the hand injury, but he was still registering positive showings and playing efficiently.

But the foot injury might be cause for slight concern. While it is not connected to the knee injury that sidelined Hayward for the entirety of the 2017-18 season, the fact that the foot did not respond positively to the cortisone shot is hardly a good sign. This second MRI should prove more consequential in terms of assessing Hayward's status moving forward.

Luckily, the Celtics have already had a long layoff. They have not played in nearly a week, which has at least given Hayward some time to recuperate.

Nevertheless, fans will await the results of Friday's MRI with baited breath.