Last September, Mike Elko lost one of his key defensive pieces to a leg injury. A non-contact ACL tear that ultimately put an end to his season at College Station. After chipping in three tackles in his lone appearance against the Notre Dame Irish, cornerback ‘nickel’ Tyreek Chappell redshirted his season. “Obviously, (Tyreek) Chappell is out for the year,” Elko had said. Now, after months of grueling silence, he has finally commented on what happened.

“It was a Wednesday practice. We grew last year. I tore my ACL, slight MCL, tear two..on the side of my knee,” he said to the press on Tuesday. “It was a non-contact injury. I landed wrong.” The 5’11, 180-pound cornerback was an important element in Elko’s defensive playbook. In the 2023 season, he had chipped in 21 tackles and one interception over nine games, but the ACL tear sustained in week 2 of last campaign submerged Elko’s hopes. And the Aggies’ defense drowned, ranking No. 90th in FBS.

But little did he know about the nature of his injury back then. He did not think that his ‘wrong landing’ would put an end to his season. Assuming it had been a bruised knee, he was walking for a couple of days afterwards. His injury was a huge blow to the roster. “When we lost him last year, it drastically impacted us playing the way we wanted to play,” the HC had said.

The recovery process had been challenging. His Family has been a constant support throughout his recovery. “It was really my family and my daughter. During that time, she was around 2 months old, so every time I saw her, I said to myself, Yeah, I gotta do this for her,” he added.  “The process is kind of long. Like, shout out to Joe. He’s a great trainer. He got me right.”

His 2025 start has been decent, recording 10 solo tackles in the last four games, with the Aggies boasting a 4-0 streak. Over the weekend, against the Auburn Tigers, he recorded two tackles. “Coming out of the bye week, that was the healthiest he has been,” Elko said of his performance. “Saturday was probably his most complete game of the year from a coverage standpoint.”

Tyreek Chappell on his comeback

In the 2025 season, he is looking for a comeback. Back in August, On3’s Mark Passwaters called Tyreek an X factor, whose performance could have a major impact on the Aggies’ success or maybe failure. Coming into his fifth season with the Aggies, with a Freshman All-American at corner honor stashed in his bag, hopes are high. He brings a ‘Philadelphi toughness’ against the run, as Passwaters put it. Being able to cover slot as well as outside receivers, he could have easily secured the ‘nickel’ position last year. This season? He surely hasn’t disappointed. Over four games, he has chipped in 13 tackles.

Coming up next, the Aggies will face off against Mississippi State, and that might be a challenge. For the Bulldogs are presently ranked No. 5th in best scoring offense in the SEC. Not to forget the elite talent Jeff Lebby had stacked up. He hauled in WRs Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans III, combined with the offensive prowess of fifth-year veteran QB Blake Shapen. Add to that RB duo, Fluff Bothwell and Davon Booth.

Bottom line: Aggies’ secondary needs to be robust, and Mike Elko is counting on Tyreek to limit down the Bulldogs’ offense. Tyreek’s reaction? “That means a lot to me,” he said to the press. “That just shows that he (HC Elko) trusts me a lot. Some guys look up to me in a certain way, and I’m glad that I could teach them the rights and wrongs, and it shows how much he trusted me and the team trusted me.” And Tyreek is already pumped up to face off against the Bulldogs.