McLeod was ruled out indefinitely on Tuesday, after arthroscopic surgery revealed the damage to his troublesome right knee was worse than expected.
The news prompted speculation the 33-year-old might have played his last game for the Crows, but Craig said McLeod was committed to adding to his decorated 339-game career.
"Andrew is very clear in his mind about what he wants to do for the rest of the year, which I think is a good, healthy attitude to have," Craig said on Thursday.
"I saw him Tuesday night and he was pretty sore. He was much better last night and he was in good spirits, so he’s back on track from a mental point of view.
"He’ll get back on the track and we’ll have a look at his training form and how well he’s moving. Then we’ll make a call on selection as to whether he needs a game back at the Port Magpies or if he comes straight back in."
McLeod has been in good form this season, but is expected to join club stalwarts Simon Goodwin and Tyson Edwards in announcing that this year will be his last.
Craig did not know if the dual premiership player’s latest setback had influenced his decision to retire either way.
"I haven’t spoken to him about next year. He hasn’t come to me to chat about it, so you’d have to ask Andrew," Craig said.
McLeod will be one of at least three changes to the Crows team to take on Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
All-Australian centre half-back Nathan Bock will come into the side at the expense of injured youngster Phil Davis, while midfielder Brad Symes will replace the retired Edwards.
Myke Cook, Chris Schmidt and rookie Ricky Henderson are all in the mix to take McLeod’s spot, but draftee Daniel Talia is unlikely to be available for selection after injuring his knee at training on Thursday.
The promising key position player will have scans to determine the extent of the injury, but the club fears the 18-year-old could require surgery to repair damage to his lateral meniscus.
Wingman Brodie Martin is back into full-scale training and is expected to make his return from a knee reconstruction within a month.
The 15th-placed Crows recorded their best win of the season against Fremantle at AAMI Stadium last weekend and are remarkably just two games out of the top eight, but Craig denied that finals were back on the agenda at West Lakes.
"If you look at where we’re at, at the moment, the state of our squad and what we’re trying to do ... mathematically [there is a chance] and that's OK, but what we’re more interested in is reproducing that [four-quarter effort]," Craig said.
"We lose three more players (McLeod, Davis and Edwards) from last week, so you could argue that 650 games of experience go out of our side. The most important thing for us is that we aim to play the sort of football that you saw last week for the rest of the season and never ever give it away, which is very easy to do when you’re 3-8."
