Mizzou Kicker Blake Craig Details Return From Injury, Mindset Shift

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Blake Craig's injury in 2025 was a freak accident. Kickers just don't get hurt as he did, and his absence for 11 of Missouri's 12 games made a noticeable impact.

Craig suffered an ACL tear in his planting leg against Central Arkansas while attempting to make a tackle on a kickoff. Categorizing his injury as unusual would be more than accurate, as it would be to understate the impact his injury had on the team.

That doesn't change that his ACL tear was out of the ordinary. It did change the way in which Craig carries himself.

"It's definitely a surprise. It was a bad situation. Obviously, no one's not accounting for that," Craig told reporters on Tuesday. "But honestly, I've learned so much about myself, and I learned that through adversity, you just grow and mentality-wise, stronger than ever."

The night of August 28, 2025, the day of the game in which Craig's injury occurred, was an emotionally charged one for Craig and his family. Getting injured in that capacity was never a thought for Craig in his position and it didn't feel real until it happened.

Craig gave himself that night to be upset. The following day, he got to work with the Senior Associate Director & Rehab Coordinator, Cole Vertz, on taking the right steps toward recovery.

For Craig, reflecting on his injury and the time he spent out is still a unique experience. Nothing could've prepared him for that to happen, especially because he went through his youth football days without any major injuries.

"It was definitely something surreal that I've never experienced before," Craig said. "I was kind of that athlete growing up that was never hurt and I'll never be hurt. So as a kid, you don't really think about that, but now it's like, okay, then this is real."

After that night of reflection and immediate time spent with Vertz, Craig's mindset underwent a major shift. He was ready to improve himself while attempting to spin a negative situation into an absolute positive.

"(When) something like that happens to you, it's automatically you switch into a different mode," Craig said. "You're like, okay, how can I get back from this better than ever. So that was my instant thought."

The mental process of getting back into being a high-level kicker isn't easy by any means. Craig claims that regaining the strength in his planting leg was the easiest part of his recovery process. Overcoming the mental hurdles of that wasn't.

It took countless hours in the training facility for Craig to get to where he wanted to be mentally.

"It's more mental than anything," Craig said. "Because you work with these elite trainers here, and they get your strength back, they get your explosiveness back. There's nothing to worry about with that. But for your own sake, it's that mental barrier of like, Can I do this?"

At this very moment, Craig isn't technically 100 percent healthy. He's taking precautions by not participating in kick-off drills, though that is a role he expects to compete for alongside Florida State's Brunno Reus by the time the season rolls around.

Despite that being the phase of the game where Craig's injury occurred last season, he does not plan on shying away from the competition that Reus is bringing or backing away because of his previous injury.

"I'm not kicking off right now in spring, but obviously, there's no rush for that," Craig said. So I'm holding back on the kickoffs, but everything else, I'm full go."

Even if he technically isn't completely healthy, Craig feels really good about where his leg stands, along with his mental process, heading into his redshirt junior season.

"I don't want to make it seem like I'm anywhere below where I was before," Craig said. "If anything, I'm at the same point that I was before, and, if not better. I'm just trying to improve that consistency."