The Texas A&M football team has moved into game practice mode and coach Mike Elko believes his team is ready to roll.

“(I’m) really excited about where we are. I think we’ve had a really really strong 18 practices now. As we just walked off of practice number 18, I think the thing is coming together like we hoped it would, and now it’s an opportunity to kind of turn our attention to somebody else,” he said Thursday.

The Aggies were able to get through camp largely, but not completely, injury free. Elko said two players have been lost for the year due to injuries and two more have left the program entirely.

“Unfortunately, (defensive tackle) Chase Sims and (running back) Tiger Riden will be out for the season. Guys will be unavailable for the rest of the year, and then no longer on the roster will be (guard) Nelson McGuire and (wide receiver) Jerome Miles for personal reasons, and so that’s where we are as we head into game week,” he said.

Riden’s injury means the Aggies could be looking for a back to handle short yardage situations and redshirt junior Rueben Owens could get the call. Elko said that Owens, who is already installed as the starting running back, could be in line for the breakout season he’s been looking for since being rated as the nation’s top back in the class of 2023.

“He’s been here for a while, maybe without it going exactly the way he had mapped it out, going by injury and some of those things,” Elko said. “I think what you have now is is finally that healthy, mature version of him that is physically ready to take on the rigors of an SEC season has had a really, really strong off season, has logged a lot of reps, so is really really comfortable in the run schemes and how we’re trying to attack the line of scrimmage and the angles and the lines that we’re trying to hit, and so yeah, we’re excited for him to be able to go out and maybe finally put his absolute best, healthiest foot forward.”

Elko was complimentary of all four backs that remain healthy and ready to go, saying they all had solid summers.

“I think (Owens) and Jamarion (Morrow) have really had strong camps. We’re really happy with what Carsyn Baker and KJ Edwards have done in fall camp, and so we feel really good about the group that we have,” he said. “We certainly feel and believe in what we have, and believe in Reuben to go out there and be that guy for us every down.”

With the departure of Cashius Howell to the NFL, the Aggies could have a pair of new defensive ends starting this fall in sophomore Marco Jones and senior Anto Saka, who transferred from Northwestern. Elko said both had done what they needed to do in order to improve their overall games during he summer.

“Last year, what (Jones) was was a kid who had an unbelievable potential, tremendous traits, but was learning and growing every day about how to actually play fundamental football at the level you need to to be as successful as you can be … To his credit, because this is always the big challenge when you are that big, really athletic kid for so long — are you willing to really go to work on all of those fundamentals, those little details that are going to allow you to take your game where you want it to go? And I think he’s done that, and so I think you’ve got a kid now who not only is is big and athletic and fits the profile that you would want, but has really detailed his craft, become a lot better fundamentally,” Elko explained. “(In Saka), I think you’re bringing in a kid who’s who’s played a lot of football, has been around the block a little bit, knows what college football is all about, and you know obviously has kind of integrated into that room. And again, another physical kid. I think we’ve got a really, really strong, deep group of defensive ends, and he’s obviously a big piece of it.”

The linebacker corps will likely be at full strength for the Sept. 5, which seemed unlikely after Daymion Sanford was carted off with a leg injury during the Maroon & White Game in April. Sanford’s absence and subsequent return for the start of the season could turn out to be beneficial for other linebackers.

“You don’t ever want anybody to get injured, for sure, and I wish Daymion didn’t. I wish he was out there playing. But you know, those reps had to go somewhere, and and the urgency to be the guy had to go somewhere,” Elko said. “I think all of those kids, because of that, have taken a big step forward, and so when you look at what Noah Mikhail has been able to do, what Ray Coney has been able to do, what Jordan Lockhart has been able to do, and then you know just young guys Tamarion Watkins and Tank King as they’ve kind of emerged because they’ve been given more opportunities, and so yeah, I think what we have now is a stronger, deeper group than maybe we had in the spring when we had a lot more guys still trying to figure things out.”

Elko has been critical of the upheaval in college athletics all summer, and he didn’t back off Thursday. Spurred by LSU’s attempts to sign players who were in NFL training camps recently (among other issues), the SEC and other conferences are looking to halt pro-to-college movement. The fact that there are still dueling lawsuits creating uncertainty as the season kicks off drew scorn from A&M’s head coach.

“It’s a statement about where we are from a governance standpoint that we are having conversations about what the rules are going to be regarding roster management on Aug. 27, and … There’s games tonight. There’s games Saturday, and we’re not even really sure what the rules are around who can play on our teams this fall!” he said. “I think that if you want a statement about where we are as a overall governance structure, that’s where we are.”

When asked if his program would entertain the idea of adding college tagbacks, Elko said the odds of that are very low.

“You know, we we entertain everything, so I don’t think it’s fair to say why haven’t we entertained (it). I think you entertain everything till you figure out what the landscape is going to look like, (but) I think from our perspective, you know we are very comfortable and confident with the culture that we’ve built, and I don’t know that it makes a ton of sense for us in August to go out and recruit a whole bunch of kids who haven’t been through it all with us, haven’t been through you know the hard days in the summer with coach Moffitt, haven’t been through spring ball, haven’t been through team bonding,” he said. “I think (we) ultimately made the decision that we’re very confident and comfortable with what we have in this building, and we’re confident rolling with them this fall.”

Elko said offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins and defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill will both be in the press box this fall.

“I think it’s, where do you think you can be the most useful, the most helpful? (Hemphill) is the walkie-talkie guy this year, and so he’ll be talking to the green dot (player with the radio in the helmet, normally Coney),” Elko said. “Holmon will be in the box as well. It’s a conversation with him about where are you comfortable, where do you feel the most comfortable doing this from, and I think again his perspective is he feels the most comfortable being up there, and so that’s how we’ll do it. He’ll talk with the green dot (quarterback Marcel Reed) too.”