An elated Mike Elko defends Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman from “embarrassing” criticism

Texas A&M redshirt sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman turned heads with his 309-yard performance in the No. 25 Aggies’ 41-10 win over No. 9 Missouri on Saturday at Kyle Field. Coach Mike Elko went a step further to protect his quarterback from outside criticism.

In the opening statement of his postgame press conference, Elko dismissed the “false and fictitious” claims about Weigman returning to action after suffering an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder that sidelined him for A&M’s final three games.

“I say this because it needs to be said,” Elko said. “You can challenge Conner for playing and you can get upset with Conner for throwing a football. Some of the things that have been said about this child and written about this child are not his [the local media]You were great, this is embarrassing. It is absolutely embarrassing what is coming to light about this child.”

Weigman received a lot of criticism for his performance in the Aggies’ season-opening loss to No. 7 Notre Dame on Aug. 31, when he completed 12 of 30 passes for 100 yards with two interceptions. He was shown on television vomiting on the sidelines and being out of tune all night.

“This kid is a winner, he’s a competitor, he’s doing whatever he needs to do for Texas A&M football,” Elko said. “There are a lot of people right now who need to stand up and acknowledge what they have said over the last three weeks and take damn responsibility for it.”

Weigman spoke at the show’s weekly press conference on September 2 and took responsibility for his performance. The Cypress product bounced back with 125 yards and two touchdowns on 11 of 14 passing in the first half of the win over McNeese State the following week.

“As I told my teammates up close this morning, period, I need to get better,” Weigman said before the McNeese game. “There are no excuses for the way I played. In every sense of the word, I need to get better and I told them that this morning. … I don’t shy away from anything. I’ll tackle it head on. I’ll be the first to tell you I didn’t play the way I was supposed to play.”

Elko clarified that his frustration was not based on criticism of Weigman’s play on the field, but rather on comments about Weigman’s personality and behavior.

“You can criticize him as a quarterback,” Elko said. “He stood up here, he was responsible for his performance. We are all exposed to criticism in this area. This is sport. When you start making a personal picture of a child and talking about personal things that are grossly fictional and completely false, and those things become stories and approach things, then it’s embarrassing.”

Weigman recovered from his injury with a strong performance as the Aggies defeated the Tigers, completing 18 of 22 passes for 276 yards and 33 yards on five carries. He demonstrated accuracy in the air and fought distance effectively, being sacked only once.

“Conner Weigman is a dog, man,” Purdue transfer defensive end Nic Scourton said. “He battled some injuries. This is my first year playing with him. Just to see what he went through, how the media talks badly about him and things like that. Just to fight, Weig is a warrior and a ballplayer. I think Weig comes into every game with that mentality that he wants to dominate everyone and that he has a chip on his shoulder. Since he’s coming back from injury, he’s obviously out of season. Weig is just a great player, a great competitor and he doesn’t shy away from anything.”

Scourton said Weigman has remained positive over the past four weeks as he recovers from his injury with redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed.

“He never batted an eyelid,” Scourton said. “Every time I walk into the training room I see Conner. He’s in there all the time, working on getting his shoulder right and things like that. He motivates the younger quarterbacks and motivates us. Even at games he stands on the sidelines and catches everyone up when he was out. Never flinched. He never shied away from anything and he never allowed anything negative to get to him. He’s just a warrior.”

Junior running back Le’Veon Moss had his best performance of the season with 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers. He said Elko cautioned the team to pay no attention to social media and online criticism.

“I personally don’t listen to the media,” Moss said. “I’m really not a social media person. But coach [Elko] always says, ‘Don’t listen to people because they will have your back when you win and hate you when you lose.'”

A&M faces a week off before returning to action on Saturday, October 19th at Mississippi State.

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