Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Even grinding through the drudgery of fall training camp, Missouri tight end Chase Coffman has returned with a new attitude this season.

Coffman, a preseason All-America candidate, finally is healthy after battling through a nagging ankle injury most of last season. It's brought him back to football with a renewed purpose for his senior season.

"I definitely appreciate being healthy now and not having to be sore every day at practice," Coffman said. "It's also good not having to spend time in the training room. This gives me the time to relax and focus on the things I need to concentrate on to get ready for the season. It's just so much better."

His recovery has added another vital weapon to Missouri's high-powered offensive attack. It will force opposing defenses to consider who they will check with the return of quarterback Chase Daniel, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and a rotation of running backs who will attempt to replace leading rusher Tony Temple.

Coffman's return will be important in adding another weapon for an offense that ranked among the top 10 in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense last season.

"Everybody being healthy now just adds extra fire to what we are able to do," Coffman said. "They'll have to worry about more than one person and focus more on everybody in our lineup. And that will open things up on offense for all of us. If I don't make a play, we've got a lot of others who can."

Even as the Tigers raced to their winningest season in the 117-season history of the program in 2007, Coffman's injury-ravaged season was a bitter personal disappointment. Before the season, he was counted among the nation's top tight ends as Mackey Award semifinalist.

Coffman sprained his right ankle when he was tackled at a weird angle in an early-season loss at Oklahoma. He kept playing with the injury, but aggravated it in the North Division title-clinching victory over Kansas when an opposing player rolled onto his leg during an extra-point kick and tweaked the injury.

"I was out there playing, but I felt like I couldn't cut or go full speed like I would like to do. It was like I was being held back and couldn't do everything to my fullest potential. That's what made it so frustrating."

At the lowest point, he was forced to miss the Tigers' biggest game of the season, when he sat out the Big 12 championship game loss against Oklahoma in San Antonio.

"The only thing I wish going back is I wonder if I could have contributed more," Coffman said. "It was hard to have to watch that Big 12 game from the bench. It was tough how the season played out for us with me not being able to contribute."

It's not that Coffman was really any slouch, despite the injury. He still produced 47 receptions for 503 yards and four TD receptions. Three of them came in a victory at Colorado -- the first triple-TD game of his career.

He was healthy enough to play, but never at 100 percent.

And it was a big step back from his sophomore season in 2006, when led all Big 12 tight ends with 58 receptions, 638 yards and nine TD grabs.

"What made it so frustrating is that I knew I could go out and do that kind of stuff if I had been healthy," Coffman said. "It was just a nagging injury that kept me from being as good as I could have been."

After returning to the lineup for the Tigers' Cotton Bowl victory, he had surgery after the season to clean up the injury.

His role should evolve this season with the graduation of Martin Rucker, who is now in the camp of the Cleveland Browns. It will likely make him Daniel's No. 1 option for short and intermediate routes.

"It's exciting because I'll be doing a lot more stuff because Rucker is gone," Coffman said. "I want to also step up in leadership and help the team that way."

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel can tell a big difference since Coffman's return.

"He's done well and looks good out there," Pinkel said. "He played through it last year, was sore all the time and didn't tell anybody or complain about it. He just practiced and worked hard and went out and played. That's the kind of competitor he is. But it's exciting to see him healthy again."

Coffman says he'll never take his health for granted again.

"It was frustrating last season, but just one of those things you have to learn to fight through," Coffman said. "But it also makes you better. I've learned to block out the distractions of being injured and still give it everything I've got. It helped me. "