Anders Carlson experienced a double-whammy of sorts on a single play during Auburn’s loss at Mississippi State last season.

Midway through the second quarter of the Tigers’ 39-33 overtime loss in Starkville, Miss., last November, Bulldogs return specialist Tulu Griffin housed a kickoff return for a 92-yard touchdown that gave Mississippi State a 21-point lead. Not only was Carlson frustrated by giving up a kick return touchdown, but the Tigers’ veteran kicker sustained what proved to be a season-ending injury in the process.

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As Griffin raced down the home sideline at Davis Wade Stadium, Carlson made a diving attempt to trip him up at the Mississippi State 40-yard line. It was a fruitless endeavor for Carlson, who awkwardly landed with his left arm above his head as he hit the grass. Three days later, X-ray results showed that Carlson had a fracture at the top of his humerus.

His season — and Auburn career — was over.

“Kind of the worst of both worlds,” Carlson said Thursday morning at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

An arm injury may not seem that detrimental to a kicker — a player whose biggest asset is his legs — but Carlson explained Thursday why it prevented him from finishing out the final three games of his final collegiate season. The biggest issue, it seems, was that the injury was to Carlson’s left arm. As a right-footed kicker, his left arm is critical to his kicking motion, as he extends it out to counterbalance his weight as he plants and follows through on a kick.

“I couldn’t lift (my arm),” Carlson said. “I didn’t know it was broken until a few days after. I tried to practice Tuesday, actually, with my arm tucked. I was kicking looking like a chicken, basically.”

After the diagnosis, Carlson was provided a timeline for recovery: four to six weeks. His arm was feeling better by Christmastime, but by then, Auburn’s season was in the books thanks to a 5-7 campaign that kept the Tigers out of a bowl game.

It marked the second straight season that Carlson dealt with a season-ending injury. Both, coincidentally, occurred against Mississippi State. During Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State in 2021, when the Tigers squandered a 28-3 lead, Carlson tore his ACL on a kickoff late in the game. His season was over, but he opted to return for a sixth season while taking advantage of the NCAA’s free year of eligibility stemming from the pandemic.

“I think the word that goes with that is resiliency, right?” Carlson said. “(That’s) something I talked to the coaches here about. My career, I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve had a lot of success and some downfalls, and some injuries as well. I talked about that just being kind of a booster for the future. Some guys don’t experience that, and it really tests you as a man and prepares you for the future.”

For Carlson, he’s hopeful that future is in the NFL, with this week’s combine the next step toward that goal. He left Auburn as No. 2 on the program’s career made field goals list (79), second in all-time scoring on the Plains (410 points) and third in career PATs made (173). He was 79-of-110 (71.82 percent) on career field goals at Auburn, with a long of 53 yards as a redshirt freshman in 2018.

Carlson has been training mostly in Auburn the last couple months, though he has made a handful of cross-country trips to work out with esteemed kicking coach Jamie Kohl. While in Auburn, he has also spent time working with his older brother, Daniel Carlson, the Raiders’ All-Pro kicker and former Auburn great. The older Carlson has been a useful resource for his little bother during the pre-draft process, since it’s something he went through just a few years ago.

The two have talked on the phone regularly this week, and they’ll spend more time together training in Auburn after Anders returns from Indianapolis at the end of the week. But first, he has business to take care of at the NFL Combine now that he’s healthy and focused on the next chapter.

“Just being here is a blessing,” Carlson said. “I’m excited for the field work Friday, just showing leg strength and just being healthy again, it’s a blessing to be here with a strong shoulder, strong knee and just being able to tee it up with some good guys around me and just show potential.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.