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MrPhlegm

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48 minutes ago, Laxtonto said:

Owens was their "best back" and Moss was medicore.

If Owens is done, how does the Klein offense work without several functional backs?

Does this mean that we get more Weigman running the ball?

The team neurologist right nowMoney Scarface GIF

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Owens was their "best back" and Moss was medicore.
If Owens is done, how does the Klein offense work without several functional backs?
Does this mean that we get more Weigman running the ball?

Tebow 2.0?

The OL is already suspect and he has had serious injuries in the past and concussion issues... He may not make it to week 6 if they go all Tebow


Gonna need to see the jump pass in practice gif
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I laugh at the thought of how much they probably had to pay to retain Rueben Owens because of his HS ranking, and they will probably pay up again this December even though he won't play this season.

The dude had bust written all over him in HS and averaged 3.8 yards per carry his freshman year. Daniels and Moss looked better than him in every way last season.

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2 hours ago, Jersey Man10 said:

Aggy was talking mad shit about the Baxter injury. Wonder how they feel now.

 
1 edit
 
Rule#2
 
AG
 
This thread didn't age too well. I'm hearing we've lost a RB as well. Stand by.
 
4
 
 
12thMan9
 
AG
 
 
Rule#2 said:
This thread didn't age too well. I'm hearing we've lost a RB as well. Stand by.
Owens.
Ronnie '88
 
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12 hours ago, sdm said:
 
1 edit
 
Rule#2
 
AG
 
This thread didn't age too well. I'm hearing we've lost a RB as well. Stand by.
 
4
 
 
12thMan9
 
AG
 
 
Rule#2 said:
This thread didn't age too well. I'm hearing we've lost a RB as well. Stand by.
Owens.
Ronnie '88
 

 

 

 

 

… it’s Ziegler…

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3 hours ago, DFW Horn said:

This aggy asked all the right questions, but never arrived at the logical conclusion.

 

3 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

They're getting close . . . so close . . .

Oh, please. They're interested in playing the victim but intellectual honesty is a bridge too far. 

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Over a summer in the mid 70’s, I took 6 hours of electives at aggy….placing me squarely in the belly of the beast.  This was a time when the powers that be at aggy were pushing female enrollment (aggy was 88% male in 1971 & 68% male in 1976).  You’d think those idiots would be happy with more women on campus, but nooooooo.  More women on campus would be a change and aggy >never< does well with change.  Between classes, female students were accosted by male students yelling sexist slurs.  “You whores shouldn’t be here.  Take your fucking asses to t. u., You’re a bunch of cunts and nobody wants you here.”  You name and they said it.  And it happened every fucking day.  It was living in an alternate reality.  All I could think was, “ When I get back to Austin, they’re never gonna believe this shit.”  Oh, yeah.  A few of the girls were even more attractive than livestock.

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1 hour ago, Harrison Stafford said:

Over a summer in the mid 70’s, I took 6 hours of electives at aggy….placing me squarely in the belly of the beast.  This was a time when the powers that be at aggy were pushing female enrollment (aggy was 88% male in 1971 & 68% male in 1976).  You’d think those idiots would be happy with more women on campus, but nooooooo.  More women on campus would be a change and aggy >never< does well with change.  Between classes, female students were accosted by male students yelling sexist slurs.  “You whores shouldn’t be here.  Take your fucking asses to t. u., You’re a bunch of cunts and nobody wants you here.”  You name and they said it.  And it happened every fucking day.  It was living in an alternate reality.  All I could think was, “ When I get back to Austin, they’re never gonna believe this shit.”  Oh, yeah.  A few of the girls were even more attractive than livestock.

200w.gif

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3 hours ago, Harrison Stafford said:

You name and they said it.  And it happened every fucking day.  It was living in an alternate reality.  All I could think was, “ When I get back to Austin, they’re never gonna believe this shit.”  Oh, yeah.  A few of the girls were even more attractive than livestock.

Ironic post is ironic.

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4 hours ago, Harrison Stafford said:

Over a summer in the mid 70’s, I took 6 hours of electives at aggy….placing me squarely in the belly of the beast.  This was a time when the powers that be at aggy were pushing female enrollment (aggy was 88% male in 1971 & 68% male in 1976).  You’d think those idiots would be happy with more women on campus, but nooooooo.  More women on campus would be a change and aggy >never< does well with change.  Between classes, female students were accosted by male students yelling sexist slurs.  “You whores shouldn’t be here.  Take your fucking asses to t. u., You’re a bunch of cunts and nobody wants you here.”  You name and they said it.  And it happened every fucking day.  It was living in an alternate reality.  All I could think was, “ When I get back to Austin, they’re never gonna believe this shit.”  Oh, yeah.  A few of the girls were even more attractive than livestock.

Now they'll claim you if you have any success in life that they want to rub off on them, or that they want to rub one out to...potato, potahto. 

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For those who care, I've posted and spoilered below a comical practice update from ATM 247's Carter Karels. The guy tries, but if you read just this article, you can see how kowtowed these guys are by Elko and his staff. The guy can't really say anything at all. He doesn't mention that Terry Bussey has been moved full time to TB even though the word has leaked all over the place. Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL. You can see Karels try to work around it. 

How healthy is a program if the staff is this paranoid about anything being said about this team? The restrictions are fucking absurd.

Spoiler

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M held its 10th football practice of preseason camp Monday on the two outdoor Coolidge Practice Fields. A&M played donned helmets, shells and shorts for the practice. 

GigEm247 and the other media members in attendance were permitted to observe, film video and take pictures for six periods (approximately 20-30 minutes) of the practice before leaving. We captured the offensive position groups in a three-minute highlight video, which can be found here.

Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the team-imposed restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of major takeaways from the practice. Additionally, while the media watched, the Aggies were not put in any competitive settings like one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven work or 11-on-11 action.

GigEm247 primarily watched the offense. Here are some notes and takeaways from the six media-observed periods.

Limited injuries beyond Owens: When a team comes out of a scrimmage, especially during preseason camp, it is always important to assess its injury status.

The Aggies held their first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday, and sophomore running back Rueben Owens II appeared to be their biggest casualty. He is expected to miss the 2024 season after suffering a lower-body injury in the scrimmage, according to a report from ESPN. 

A&M head coach Mike Elko acknowledged the injury in a statement Sunday, though he did not reveal a timetable for Owens' return. Elko said he will discuss the injury further when he next speaks with the media, which is set for Saturday.

During preseason camp, it is not uncommon for a team to lose a major player to injury. Two teams the Aggies will face this season alone, Texas and Notre Dame, reportedly lost starting running back CJ Baxter (knee) and left tackle Charles Jagusah (torn right pectoral muscle), respectively, to season-ending injuries earlier this month. So a tough injury or two during preseason camp should be expected.

Beyond Owens, A&M looked to be relatively healthy. The media is prohibited from disclosing if certain players did not participate in practice. So in more broad terms, the Aggies seemed to come out of the scrimmage in good shape health-wise besides Owens.

Now two days removed from its first scrimmage of preseason camp, A&M had a lighter practice. The Aggie players wore helmets, shells and shorts and were not tackling. So the six media-observed periods were fairly uneventful.

All eyes on the running backs: With Owens sidelined, the Aggies now have a thin running back group going into the season. 

A&M has only three healthy scholarship running backs: Stanford transfer EJ Smith, redshirt junior Amari Daniels and junior Le'Veon Moss. There are five walk-ons to know as well: North Texas transfer Preston Landis, Harvard transfer Israel Benjamin, Anthony DiNota, Ramarian Tillman and Ronnie Crosby III. Among the walk-on running backs, DiNota seemed to receive most of the work during drills.

The media is not permitted to report on any position switches that we see at practice. What I can reveal, however, is that Smith, Daniels and Moss were the only scholarship players working with the running back group during position drills.

Whether any other scholarship players receive work at running back, though, will be worth monitoring. Even if Smith, Daniels and Moss all remain healthy, the Aggies might want to have someone ready as an emergency running back if needed.

True freshman athlete Terry Bussey comes to mind as someone who could make that flip. The former five-star recruit from Timpson (Texas) High spent the first half of preseason camp at cornerback and is listed at that position on the A&M athletics website. Still, he brings the skill set to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. 

Per sources with knowledge of the scrimmage, Bussey returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. In his final high school season last fall, he turned 92 carries into 1,165 yards and 17 touchdowns. So while Bussey might be a better long-term fit at cornerback, or even wide receiver, running back might make sense for him given the situation.

Two sophomores for the Aggies, safety Dalton Brooks and cornerback Jayvon Thomas, were both two-way players in high school who played running back at a high level. However, they are both pushing for starting spots. So moving them to the other side of the field probably would not be wise.

Maybe I noticed it only this time because I spent more time watching his position group, but running backs coach Trooper Taylor seemed to be harder on his unit than usual during drills. After catching a pass against air, Smith tucked the ball under the wrong arm and switched it to the correct side. Taylor made sure Smith learned from that mistake and had him do push ups. He had DiNota do push ups for making a mistake as well.

Special teams musings: Wide receivers Moose Muhammad III, Izaiah Williams, Noah Thomas, Micah Tease, Cyrus Allen and Ernest Campbell, safety Bryce Anderson, Moss, Smith and Bussey were the players I saw returning either kicks, punts or both during drills.

When it comes to kickoffs, Bussey will be the one to watch. I mentioned his kickoff return touchdown in the scrimmage. After observing him return kicks in practice Monday, that touchdown probably had more to do with him being awesome than poor kickoff coverage.

Everyone knows how dynamic of an athlete Bussey is. How natural he looked with the ball in his hands is what stood out to me. Bussey showed impressive vision and a feel for when to hit the hole. On one kickoff, he patiently waited behind his blockers before cutting horizontally to his left and finding an opening for a nice return.

Elko has not been asked about it yet, but keep an eye on the kicker spot. On field goals of 40 yards and beyond, kicker Randy Bond typically does not inspire much confidence. His competition, Georgia transfer Jared Zirkel, has a noticeably bigger leg but can have accuracy issues. 

Perhaps A&M might want to use Bond on shorter field goals and Zirkel on longer kicks and kickoffs. During the practices we have seen, both of them have been sharing the reps.

 

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13 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

For those who care, I've posted and spoilered below a comical practice update from ATM 247's Carter Karels. The guy tries, but if you read just this article, you can see how kowtowed these guys are by Elko and his staff. The guy can't really say anything at all. He doesn't mention that Terry Bussey has been moved full time to TB even though the word has leaked all over the place. Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL. You can see Karels try to work around it. 

How healthy is a program if the staff is this paranoid about anything being said about this team? The restrictions are fucking absurd.

  Hide contents

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M held its 10th football practice of preseason camp Monday on the two outdoor Coolidge Practice Fields. A&M played donned helmets, shells and shorts for the practice. 

GigEm247 and the other media members in attendance were permitted to observe, film video and take pictures for six periods (approximately 20-30 minutes) of the practice before leaving. We captured the offensive position groups in a three-minute highlight video, which can be found here.

Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the team-imposed restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of major takeaways from the practice. Additionally, while the media watched, the Aggies were not put in any competitive settings like one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven work or 11-on-11 action.

GigEm247 primarily watched the offense. Here are some notes and takeaways from the six media-observed periods.

Limited injuries beyond Owens: When a team comes out of a scrimmage, especially during preseason camp, it is always important to assess its injury status.

The Aggies held their first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday, and sophomore running back Rueben Owens II appeared to be their biggest casualty. He is expected to miss the 2024 season after suffering a lower-body injury in the scrimmage, according to a report from ESPN. 

A&M head coach Mike Elko acknowledged the injury in a statement Sunday, though he did not reveal a timetable for Owens' return. Elko said he will discuss the injury further when he next speaks with the media, which is set for Saturday.

During preseason camp, it is not uncommon for a team to lose a major player to injury. Two teams the Aggies will face this season alone, Texas and Notre Dame, reportedly lost starting running back CJ Baxter (knee) and left tackle Charles Jagusah (torn right pectoral muscle), respectively, to season-ending injuries earlier this month. So a tough injury or two during preseason camp should be expected.

Beyond Owens, A&M looked to be relatively healthy. The media is prohibited from disclosing if certain players did not participate in practice. So in more broad terms, the Aggies seemed to come out of the scrimmage in good shape health-wise besides Owens.

Now two days removed from its first scrimmage of preseason camp, A&M had a lighter practice. The Aggie players wore helmets, shells and shorts and were not tackling. So the six media-observed periods were fairly uneventful.

All eyes on the running backs: With Owens sidelined, the Aggies now have a thin running back group going into the season. 

A&M has only three healthy scholarship running backs: Stanford transfer EJ Smith, redshirt junior Amari Daniels and junior Le'Veon Moss. There are five walk-ons to know as well: North Texas transfer Preston Landis, Harvard transfer Israel Benjamin, Anthony DiNota, Ramarian Tillman and Ronnie Crosby III. Among the walk-on running backs, DiNota seemed to receive most of the work during drills.

The media is not permitted to report on any position switches that we see at practice. What I can reveal, however, is that Smith, Daniels and Moss were the only scholarship players working with the running back group during position drills.

Whether any other scholarship players receive work at running back, though, will be worth monitoring. Even if Smith, Daniels and Moss all remain healthy, the Aggies might want to have someone ready as an emergency running back if needed.

True freshman athlete Terry Bussey comes to mind as someone who could make that flip. The former five-star recruit from Timpson (Texas) High spent the first half of preseason camp at cornerback and is listed at that position on the A&M athletics website. Still, he brings the skill set to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. 

Per sources with knowledge of the scrimmage, Bussey returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. In his final high school season last fall, he turned 92 carries into 1,165 yards and 17 touchdowns. So while Bussey might be a better long-term fit at cornerback, or even wide receiver, running back might make sense for him given the situation.

Two sophomores for the Aggies, safety Dalton Brooks and cornerback Jayvon Thomas, were both two-way players in high school who played running back at a high level. However, they are both pushing for starting spots. So moving them to the other side of the field probably would not be wise.

Maybe I noticed it only this time because I spent more time watching his position group, but running backs coach Trooper Taylor seemed to be harder on his unit than usual during drills. After catching a pass against air, Smith tucked the ball under the wrong arm and switched it to the correct side. Taylor made sure Smith learned from that mistake and had him do push ups. He had DiNota do push ups for making a mistake as well.

Special teams musings: Wide receivers Moose Muhammad III, Izaiah Williams, Noah Thomas, Micah Tease, Cyrus Allen and Ernest Campbell, safety Bryce Anderson, Moss, Smith and Bussey were the players I saw returning either kicks, punts or both during drills.

When it comes to kickoffs, Bussey will be the one to watch. I mentioned his kickoff return touchdown in the scrimmage. After observing him return kicks in practice Monday, that touchdown probably had more to do with him being awesome than poor kickoff coverage.

Everyone knows how dynamic of an athlete Bussey is. How natural he looked with the ball in his hands is what stood out to me. Bussey showed impressive vision and a feel for when to hit the hole. On one kickoff, he patiently waited behind his blockers before cutting horizontally to his left and finding an opening for a nice return.

Elko has not been asked about it yet, but keep an eye on the kicker spot. On field goals of 40 yards and beyond, kicker Randy Bond typically does not inspire much confidence. His competition, Georgia transfer Jared Zirkel, has a noticeably bigger leg but can have accuracy issues. 

Perhaps A&M might want to use Bond on shorter field goals and Zirkel on longer kicks and kickoffs. During the practices we have seen, both of them have been sharing the reps.

 

it's just weird how they can't come out and say what they want in fear of getting access taken away from them..  That shit trickles down, especially on texags, and they too start banning people who have negative views of the team/coaching staff.

 

I dislike Bohls but even with his takes in the papers or on national radio shows, UT doesn't pull access.

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18 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

For those who care, I've posted and spoilered below a comical practice update from ATM 247's Carter Karels. The guy tries, but if you read just this article, you can see how kowtowed these guys are by Elko and his staff. The guy can't really say anything at all. He doesn't mention that Terry Bussey has been moved full time to TB even though the word has leaked all over the place. Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL. You can see Karels try to work around it. 

How healthy is a program if the staff is this paranoid about anything being said about this team? The restrictions are fucking absurd.

  Reveal hidden contents

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M held its 10th football practice of preseason camp Monday on the two outdoor Coolidge Practice Fields. A&M played donned helmets, shells and shorts for the practice. 

GigEm247 and the other media members in attendance were permitted to observe, film video and take pictures for six periods (approximately 20-30 minutes) of the practice before leaving. We captured the offensive position groups in a three-minute highlight video, which can be found here.

Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the team-imposed restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of major takeaways from the practice. Additionally, while the media watched, the Aggies were not put in any competitive settings like one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven work or 11-on-11 action.

GigEm247 primarily watched the offense. Here are some notes and takeaways from the six media-observed periods.

Limited injuries beyond Owens: When a team comes out of a scrimmage, especially during preseason camp, it is always important to assess its injury status.

The Aggies held their first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday, and sophomore running back Rueben Owens II appeared to be their biggest casualty. He is expected to miss the 2024 season after suffering a lower-body injury in the scrimmage, according to a report from ESPN. 

A&M head coach Mike Elko acknowledged the injury in a statement Sunday, though he did not reveal a timetable for Owens' return. Elko said he will discuss the injury further when he next speaks with the media, which is set for Saturday.

During preseason camp, it is not uncommon for a team to lose a major player to injury. Two teams the Aggies will face this season alone, Texas and Notre Dame, reportedly lost starting running back CJ Baxter (knee) and left tackle Charles Jagusah (torn right pectoral muscle), respectively, to season-ending injuries earlier this month. So a tough injury or two during preseason camp should be expected.

Beyond Owens, A&M looked to be relatively healthy. The media is prohibited from disclosing if certain players did not participate in practice. So in more broad terms, the Aggies seemed to come out of the scrimmage in good shape health-wise besides Owens.

Now two days removed from its first scrimmage of preseason camp, A&M had a lighter practice. The Aggie players wore helmets, shells and shorts and were not tackling. So the six media-observed periods were fairly uneventful.

All eyes on the running backs: With Owens sidelined, the Aggies now have a thin running back group going into the season. 

A&M has only three healthy scholarship running backs: Stanford transfer EJ Smith, redshirt junior Amari Daniels and junior Le'Veon Moss. There are five walk-ons to know as well: North Texas transfer Preston Landis, Harvard transfer Israel Benjamin, Anthony DiNota, Ramarian Tillman and Ronnie Crosby III. Among the walk-on running backs, DiNota seemed to receive most of the work during drills.

The media is not permitted to report on any position switches that we see at practice. What I can reveal, however, is that Smith, Daniels and Moss were the only scholarship players working with the running back group during position drills.

Whether any other scholarship players receive work at running back, though, will be worth monitoring. Even if Smith, Daniels and Moss all remain healthy, the Aggies might want to have someone ready as an emergency running back if needed.

True freshman athlete Terry Bussey comes to mind as someone who could make that flip. The former five-star recruit from Timpson (Texas) High spent the first half of preseason camp at cornerback and is listed at that position on the A&M athletics website. Still, he brings the skill set to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. 

Per sources with knowledge of the scrimmage, Bussey returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. In his final high school season last fall, he turned 92 carries into 1,165 yards and 17 touchdowns. So while Bussey might be a better long-term fit at cornerback, or even wide receiver, running back might make sense for him given the situation.

Two sophomores for the Aggies, safety Dalton Brooks and cornerback Jayvon Thomas, were both two-way players in high school who played running back at a high level. However, they are both pushing for starting spots. So moving them to the other side of the field probably would not be wise.

Maybe I noticed it only this time because I spent more time watching his position group, but running backs coach Trooper Taylor seemed to be harder on his unit than usual during drills. After catching a pass against air, Smith tucked the ball under the wrong arm and switched it to the correct side. Taylor made sure Smith learned from that mistake and had him do push ups. He had DiNota do push ups for making a mistake as well.

Special teams musings: Wide receivers Moose Muhammad III, Izaiah Williams, Noah Thomas, Micah Tease, Cyrus Allen and Ernest Campbell, safety Bryce Anderson, Moss, Smith and Bussey were the players I saw returning either kicks, punts or both during drills.

When it comes to kickoffs, Bussey will be the one to watch. I mentioned his kickoff return touchdown in the scrimmage. After observing him return kicks in practice Monday, that touchdown probably had more to do with him being awesome than poor kickoff coverage.

Everyone knows how dynamic of an athlete Bussey is. How natural he looked with the ball in his hands is what stood out to me. Bussey showed impressive vision and a feel for when to hit the hole. On one kickoff, he patiently waited behind his blockers before cutting horizontally to his left and finding an opening for a nice return.

Elko has not been asked about it yet, but keep an eye on the kicker spot. On field goals of 40 yards and beyond, kicker Randy Bond typically does not inspire much confidence. His competition, Georgia transfer Jared Zirkel, has a noticeably bigger leg but can have accuracy issues. 

Perhaps A&M might want to use Bond on shorter field goals and Zirkel on longer kicks and kickoffs. During the practices we have seen, both of them have been sharing the reps.

 

It’s always been this way in aggyland.  Over the years, reporters have been moved to other beats because they didn’t follow the party line.  God help you if you asked a tough question.

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31 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

it's just weird how they can't come out and say what they want in fear of getting access taken away from them..  That shit trickles down, especially on texags, and they too start banning people who have negative views of the team/coaching staff.

 

I dislike Bohls but even with his takes in the papers or on national radio shows, UT doesn't pull access.

It's not a bad idea, in some cases.

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2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL.

Lucky for them, they have a good bit of quality depth there.  (Ahem.)

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2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

For those who care, I've posted and spoilered below a comical practice update from ATM 247's Carter Karels. The guy tries, but if you read just this article, you can see how kowtowed these guys are by Elko and his staff. The guy can't really say anything at all. He doesn't mention that Terry Bussey has been moved full time to TB even though the word has leaked all over the place. Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL. You can see Karels try to work around it. 

How healthy is a program if the staff is this paranoid about anything being said about this team? The restrictions are fucking absurd.

  Reveal hidden contents

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M held its 10th football practice of preseason camp Monday on the two outdoor Coolidge Practice Fields. A&M played donned helmets, shells and shorts for the practice. 

GigEm247 and the other media members in attendance were permitted to observe, film video and take pictures for six periods (approximately 20-30 minutes) of the practice before leaving. We captured the offensive position groups in a three-minute highlight video, which can be found here.

Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the team-imposed restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of major takeaways from the practice. Additionally, while the media watched, the Aggies were not put in any competitive settings like one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven work or 11-on-11 action.

GigEm247 primarily watched the offense. Here are some notes and takeaways from the six media-observed periods.

Limited injuries beyond Owens: When a team comes out of a scrimmage, especially during preseason camp, it is always important to assess its injury status.

The Aggies held their first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday, and sophomore running back Rueben Owens II appeared to be their biggest casualty. He is expected to miss the 2024 season after suffering a lower-body injury in the scrimmage, according to a report from ESPN. 

A&M head coach Mike Elko acknowledged the injury in a statement Sunday, though he did not reveal a timetable for Owens' return. Elko said he will discuss the injury further when he next speaks with the media, which is set for Saturday.

During preseason camp, it is not uncommon for a team to lose a major player to injury. Two teams the Aggies will face this season alone, Texas and Notre Dame, reportedly lost starting running back CJ Baxter (knee) and left tackle Charles Jagusah (torn right pectoral muscle), respectively, to season-ending injuries earlier this month. So a tough injury or two during preseason camp should be expected.

Beyond Owens, A&M looked to be relatively healthy. The media is prohibited from disclosing if certain players did not participate in practice. So in more broad terms, the Aggies seemed to come out of the scrimmage in good shape health-wise besides Owens.

Now two days removed from its first scrimmage of preseason camp, A&M had a lighter practice. The Aggie players wore helmets, shells and shorts and were not tackling. So the six media-observed periods were fairly uneventful.

All eyes on the running backs: With Owens sidelined, the Aggies now have a thin running back group going into the season. 

A&M has only three healthy scholarship running backs: Stanford transfer EJ Smith, redshirt junior Amari Daniels and junior Le'Veon Moss. There are five walk-ons to know as well: North Texas transfer Preston Landis, Harvard transfer Israel Benjamin, Anthony DiNota, Ramarian Tillman and Ronnie Crosby III. Among the walk-on running backs, DiNota seemed to receive most of the work during drills.

The media is not permitted to report on any position switches that we see at practice. What I can reveal, however, is that Smith, Daniels and Moss were the only scholarship players working with the running back group during position drills.

Whether any other scholarship players receive work at running back, though, will be worth monitoring. Even if Smith, Daniels and Moss all remain healthy, the Aggies might want to have someone ready as an emergency running back if needed.

True freshman athlete Terry Bussey comes to mind as someone who could make that flip. The former five-star recruit from Timpson (Texas) High spent the first half of preseason camp at cornerback and is listed at that position on the A&M athletics website. Still, he brings the skill set to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. 

Per sources with knowledge of the scrimmage, Bussey returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. In his final high school season last fall, he turned 92 carries into 1,165 yards and 17 touchdowns. So while Bussey might be a better long-term fit at cornerback, or even wide receiver, running back might make sense for him given the situation.

Two sophomores for the Aggies, safety Dalton Brooks and cornerback Jayvon Thomas, were both two-way players in high school who played running back at a high level. However, they are both pushing for starting spots. So moving them to the other side of the field probably would not be wise.

Maybe I noticed it only this time because I spent more time watching his position group, but running backs coach Trooper Taylor seemed to be harder on his unit than usual during drills. After catching a pass against air, Smith tucked the ball under the wrong arm and switched it to the correct side. Taylor made sure Smith learned from that mistake and had him do push ups. He had DiNota do push ups for making a mistake as well.

Special teams musings: Wide receivers Moose Muhammad III, Izaiah Williams, Noah Thomas, Micah Tease, Cyrus Allen and Ernest Campbell, safety Bryce Anderson, Moss, Smith and Bussey were the players I saw returning either kicks, punts or both during drills.

When it comes to kickoffs, Bussey will be the one to watch. I mentioned his kickoff return touchdown in the scrimmage. After observing him return kicks in practice Monday, that touchdown probably had more to do with him being awesome than poor kickoff coverage.

Everyone knows how dynamic of an athlete Bussey is. How natural he looked with the ball in his hands is what stood out to me. Bussey showed impressive vision and a feel for when to hit the hole. On one kickoff, he patiently waited behind his blockers before cutting horizontally to his left and finding an opening for a nice return.

Elko has not been asked about it yet, but keep an eye on the kicker spot. On field goals of 40 yards and beyond, kicker Randy Bond typically does not inspire much confidence. His competition, Georgia transfer Jared Zirkel, has a noticeably bigger leg but can have accuracy issues. 

Perhaps A&M might want to use Bond on shorter field goals and Zirkel on longer kicks and kickoffs. During the practices we have seen, both of them have been sharing the reps.

 

How the hell can any of the 9.95ers survive if they can't discuss people missing practice, injury news, or even position switches? Getting up-to-date information about the team is the entire point of subscribing to this type of website. That is the business model. You pay people for their access. In turn, the AD lets those people have access to push narratives and help increase fan engagement. If you can't report anything, why pay for it? If you can't talk about anything at practice, why attend? What is the point of attending something you can't write about? Is practice attendance required to have representation as press to the games? 

Does anyone think the UT 9.95 crew would ever abide to something like this? I get keeping the lid on some things from time to time, but holy fuck this is insane...

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3 hours ago, closetojumping said:

For those who care, I've posted and spoilered below a comical practice update from ATM 247's Carter Karels. The guy tries, but if you read just this article, you can see how kowtowed these guys are by Elko and his staff. The guy can't really say anything at all. He doesn't mention that Terry Bussey has been moved full time to TB even though the word has leaked all over the place. Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL. You can see Karels try to work around it. 

How healthy is a program if the staff is this paranoid about anything being said about this team? The restrictions are fucking absurd.

  Hide contents

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M held its 10th football practice of preseason camp Monday on the two outdoor Coolidge Practice Fields. A&M played donned helmets, shells and shorts for the practice. 

GigEm247 and the other media members in attendance were permitted to observe, film video and take pictures for six periods (approximately 20-30 minutes) of the practice before leaving. We captured the offensive position groups in a three-minute highlight video, which can be found here.

Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the team-imposed restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of major takeaways from the practice. Additionally, while the media watched, the Aggies were not put in any competitive settings like one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven work or 11-on-11 action.

GigEm247 primarily watched the offense. Here are some notes and takeaways from the six media-observed periods.

Limited injuries beyond Owens: When a team comes out of a scrimmage, especially during preseason camp, it is always important to assess its injury status.

The Aggies held their first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday, and sophomore running back Rueben Owens II appeared to be their biggest casualty. He is expected to miss the 2024 season after suffering a lower-body injury in the scrimmage, according to a report from ESPN. 

A&M head coach Mike Elko acknowledged the injury in a statement Sunday, though he did not reveal a timetable for Owens' return. Elko said he will discuss the injury further when he next speaks with the media, which is set for Saturday.

During preseason camp, it is not uncommon for a team to lose a major player to injury. Two teams the Aggies will face this season alone, Texas and Notre Dame, reportedly lost starting running back CJ Baxter (knee) and left tackle Charles Jagusah (torn right pectoral muscle), respectively, to season-ending injuries earlier this month. So a tough injury or two during preseason camp should be expected.

Beyond Owens, A&M looked to be relatively healthy. The media is prohibited from disclosing if certain players did not participate in practice. So in more broad terms, the Aggies seemed to come out of the scrimmage in good shape health-wise besides Owens.

Now two days removed from its first scrimmage of preseason camp, A&M had a lighter practice. The Aggie players wore helmets, shells and shorts and were not tackling. So the six media-observed periods were fairly uneventful.

All eyes on the running backs: With Owens sidelined, the Aggies now have a thin running back group going into the season. 

A&M has only three healthy scholarship running backs: Stanford transfer EJ Smith, redshirt junior Amari Daniels and junior Le'Veon Moss. There are five walk-ons to know as well: North Texas transfer Preston Landis, Harvard transfer Israel Benjamin, Anthony DiNota, Ramarian Tillman and Ronnie Crosby III. Among the walk-on running backs, DiNota seemed to receive most of the work during drills.

The media is not permitted to report on any position switches that we see at practice. What I can reveal, however, is that Smith, Daniels and Moss were the only scholarship players working with the running back group during position drills.

Whether any other scholarship players receive work at running back, though, will be worth monitoring. Even if Smith, Daniels and Moss all remain healthy, the Aggies might want to have someone ready as an emergency running back if needed.

True freshman athlete Terry Bussey comes to mind as someone who could make that flip. The former five-star recruit from Timpson (Texas) High spent the first half of preseason camp at cornerback and is listed at that position on the A&M athletics website. Still, he brings the skill set to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. 

Per sources with knowledge of the scrimmage, Bussey returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. In his final high school season last fall, he turned 92 carries into 1,165 yards and 17 touchdowns. So while Bussey might be a better long-term fit at cornerback, or even wide receiver, running back might make sense for him given the situation.

Two sophomores for the Aggies, safety Dalton Brooks and cornerback Jayvon Thomas, were both two-way players in high school who played running back at a high level. However, they are both pushing for starting spots. So moving them to the other side of the field probably would not be wise.

Maybe I noticed it only this time because I spent more time watching his position group, but running backs coach Trooper Taylor seemed to be harder on his unit than usual during drills. After catching a pass against air, Smith tucked the ball under the wrong arm and switched it to the correct side. Taylor made sure Smith learned from that mistake and had him do push ups. He had DiNota do push ups for making a mistake as well.

Special teams musings: Wide receivers Moose Muhammad III, Izaiah Williams, Noah Thomas, Micah Tease, Cyrus Allen and Ernest Campbell, safety Bryce Anderson, Moss, Smith and Bussey were the players I saw returning either kicks, punts or both during drills.

When it comes to kickoffs, Bussey will be the one to watch. I mentioned his kickoff return touchdown in the scrimmage. After observing him return kicks in practice Monday, that touchdown probably had more to do with him being awesome than poor kickoff coverage.

Everyone knows how dynamic of an athlete Bussey is. How natural he looked with the ball in his hands is what stood out to me. Bussey showed impressive vision and a feel for when to hit the hole. On one kickoff, he patiently waited behind his blockers before cutting horizontally to his left and finding an opening for a nice return.

Elko has not been asked about it yet, but keep an eye on the kicker spot. On field goals of 40 yards and beyond, kicker Randy Bond typically does not inspire much confidence. His competition, Georgia transfer Jared Zirkel, has a noticeably bigger leg but can have accuracy issues. 

Perhaps A&M might want to use Bond on shorter field goals and Zirkel on longer kicks and kickoffs. During the practices we have seen, both of them have been sharing the reps.

 

I wonder if Elko surveyed the scene, and thought, “If I get fired, that fucking Liucci and the other 9.95ers are going to be the ones beating the drum for it. Well, until that happens, they’re going to be my bitch; I’m not going to be theirs”

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2 hours ago, statsman said:

I wonder if Elko surveyed the scene, and thought, “If I get fired, that fucking Liucci and the other 9.95ers are going to be the ones beating the drum for it. Well, until that happens, they’re going to be my bitch; I’m not going to be theirs”

e70ed120-837e-4465-a367-b76576f03191_tex

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2 hours ago, statsman said:

I wonder if Elko surveyed the scene, and thought, “If I get fired, that fucking Liucci and the other 9.95ers are going to be the ones beating the drum for it. Well, until that happens, they’re going to be my bitch; I’m not going to be theirs”

Well, he took the job with a pretty good understanding of Looch and his "business".

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3 hours ago, Laxtonto said:

How the hell can any of the 9.95ers survive if they can't discuss people missing practice, injury news, or even position switches? Getting up-to-date information about the team is the entire point of subscribing to this type of website. That is the business model. You pay people for their access. In turn, the AD lets those people have access to push narratives and help increase fan engagement. If you can't report anything, why pay for it? If you can't talk about anything at practice, why attend? What is the point of attending something you can't write about? Is practice attendance required to have representation as press to the games? 

Does anyone think the UT 9.95 crew would ever abide to something like this? I get keeping the lid on some things from time to time, but holy fuck this is insane...

Wasn't Billy just telling the world last week that the A&M coaching staff was the most open coaching staff he's ever been around?

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24 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Wasn't Billy just telling the world last week that the A&M coaching staff was the most open coaching staff he's ever been around?

That doesn't sound right.  That would mean Billy is full of shit, which we all know just ain't so!

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6 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Wasn't Billy just telling the world last week that the A&M coaching staff was the most open coaching staff he's ever been around?

Maybe he was talking about the Chinese and Mexican buffets that Elko loves so much. 

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13 hours ago, closetojumping said:

For those who care, I've posted and spoilered below a comical practice update from ATM 247's Carter Karels. The guy tries, but if you read just this article, you can see how kowtowed these guys are by Elko and his staff. The guy can't really say anything at all. He doesn't mention that Terry Bussey has been moved full time to TB even though the word has leaked all over the place. Similarly, they had a few other injuries that were serious enough for guys to start missing practices, even if they're not out for the year. Who? Don't know but it sounds like someone on the OL. You can see Karels try to work around it. 

How healthy is a program if the staff is this paranoid about anything being said about this team? The restrictions are fucking absurd.

  Hide contents

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M held its 10th football practice of preseason camp Monday on the two outdoor Coolidge Practice Fields. A&M played donned helmets, shells and shorts for the practice. 

GigEm247 and the other media members in attendance were permitted to observe, film video and take pictures for six periods (approximately 20-30 minutes) of the practice before leaving. We captured the offensive position groups in a three-minute highlight video, which can be found here.

Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the team-imposed restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of major takeaways from the practice. Additionally, while the media watched, the Aggies were not put in any competitive settings like one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven work or 11-on-11 action.

GigEm247 primarily watched the offense. Here are some notes and takeaways from the six media-observed periods.

Limited injuries beyond Owens: When a team comes out of a scrimmage, especially during preseason camp, it is always important to assess its injury status.

The Aggies held their first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday, and sophomore running back Rueben Owens II appeared to be their biggest casualty. He is expected to miss the 2024 season after suffering a lower-body injury in the scrimmage, according to a report from ESPN. 

A&M head coach Mike Elko acknowledged the injury in a statement Sunday, though he did not reveal a timetable for Owens' return. Elko said he will discuss the injury further when he next speaks with the media, which is set for Saturday.

During preseason camp, it is not uncommon for a team to lose a major player to injury. Two teams the Aggies will face this season alone, Texas and Notre Dame, reportedly lost starting running back CJ Baxter (knee) and left tackle Charles Jagusah (torn right pectoral muscle), respectively, to season-ending injuries earlier this month. So a tough injury or two during preseason camp should be expected.

Beyond Owens, A&M looked to be relatively healthy. The media is prohibited from disclosing if certain players did not participate in practice. So in more broad terms, the Aggies seemed to come out of the scrimmage in good shape health-wise besides Owens.

Now two days removed from its first scrimmage of preseason camp, A&M had a lighter practice. The Aggie players wore helmets, shells and shorts and were not tackling. So the six media-observed periods were fairly uneventful.

All eyes on the running backs: With Owens sidelined, the Aggies now have a thin running back group going into the season. 

A&M has only three healthy scholarship running backs: Stanford transfer EJ Smith, redshirt junior Amari Daniels and junior Le'Veon Moss. There are five walk-ons to know as well: North Texas transfer Preston Landis, Harvard transfer Israel Benjamin, Anthony DiNota, Ramarian Tillman and Ronnie Crosby III. Among the walk-on running backs, DiNota seemed to receive most of the work during drills.

The media is not permitted to report on any position switches that we see at practice. What I can reveal, however, is that Smith, Daniels and Moss were the only scholarship players working with the running back group during position drills.

Whether any other scholarship players receive work at running back, though, will be worth monitoring. Even if Smith, Daniels and Moss all remain healthy, the Aggies might want to have someone ready as an emergency running back if needed.

True freshman athlete Terry Bussey comes to mind as someone who could make that flip. The former five-star recruit from Timpson (Texas) High spent the first half of preseason camp at cornerback and is listed at that position on the A&M athletics website. Still, he brings the skill set to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. 

Per sources with knowledge of the scrimmage, Bussey returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. In his final high school season last fall, he turned 92 carries into 1,165 yards and 17 touchdowns. So while Bussey might be a better long-term fit at cornerback, or even wide receiver, running back might make sense for him given the situation.

Two sophomores for the Aggies, safety Dalton Brooks and cornerback Jayvon Thomas, were both two-way players in high school who played running back at a high level. However, they are both pushing for starting spots. So moving them to the other side of the field probably would not be wise.

Maybe I noticed it only this time because I spent more time watching his position group, but running backs coach Trooper Taylor seemed to be harder on his unit than usual during drills. After catching a pass against air, Smith tucked the ball under the wrong arm and switched it to the correct side. Taylor made sure Smith learned from that mistake and had him do push ups. He had DiNota do push ups for making a mistake as well.

Special teams musings: Wide receivers Moose Muhammad III, Izaiah Williams, Noah Thomas, Micah Tease, Cyrus Allen and Ernest Campbell, safety Bryce Anderson, Moss, Smith and Bussey were the players I saw returning either kicks, punts or both during drills.

When it comes to kickoffs, Bussey will be the one to watch. I mentioned his kickoff return touchdown in the scrimmage. After observing him return kicks in practice Monday, that touchdown probably had more to do with him being awesome than poor kickoff coverage.

Everyone knows how dynamic of an athlete Bussey is. How natural he looked with the ball in his hands is what stood out to me. Bussey showed impressive vision and a feel for when to hit the hole. On one kickoff, he patiently waited behind his blockers before cutting horizontally to his left and finding an opening for a nice return.

Elko has not been asked about it yet, but keep an eye on the kicker spot. On field goals of 40 yards and beyond, kicker Randy Bond typically does not inspire much confidence. His competition, Georgia transfer Jared Zirkel, has a noticeably bigger leg but can have accuracy issues. 

Perhaps A&M might want to use Bond on shorter field goals and Zirkel on longer kicks and kickoffs. During the practices we have seen, both of them have been sharing the reps.

 

Buuuuuulllllllshiiiiiiiiit! Billy Liucci said this is the most “open” coaching staff he has ever covered. 

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