COLLEGE STATION - The injury that emptied Kyle Field's sideline on the first play of Saturday's game is now a season-ending one.
Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said Monday that junior wide receiver and kick returner Terry Bussey will miss the rest of the 2026 season with a lower-body injury, ESPN reported. Bussey was hurt on the opening kickoff of the Aggies' 31-21 loss to Kentucky, slipping and falling without contact before being carted off.
Elko said the program looks forward to his recovery and a return next year.
The timing lands hard. A&M is 2-1 and ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll after falling 14 spots following the Kentucky upset. Next up is a Saturday night trip to Baton Rouge against No. 10 LSU, with kickoff listed at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, per ESPN's game preview.
What Bussey was carrying into September
Bussey arrived as a five-star recruit and the No. 1 athlete in the Class of 2024. He was a preseason all-SEC selection as a kick returner and was expected to handle a larger offensive share after catching 17 and 18 passes the previous two seasons, ESPN noted.
Through the first three games of 2026 he had 7 receptions for 92 yards and 4 carries for 10 yards and a touchdown. Aggies Wire's game-day report said he also handled punt and kickoff returns entering the Kentucky game.
That dual role is what the Monday diagnosis removes for the rest of the year - not only a perimeter target, but the primary returner who was on the field for the game's first live snap.
A receiver room already under strain
Bussey was not the only missing piece against Kentucky. Ashton Bethel-Roman was ruled out after being listed as doubtful, and true freshman Madden Williams had already been lost for the season after a late-camp injury that required surgery, per earlier reporting from Aggies Wire and Dallas Sports Journal summaries of Elko's comments.
Mario Craver briefly left with a lower-body issue in the first half Saturday but returned and finished with 11 catches for 119 yards, according to ESPN's Kentucky-A&M box and SI's Aggies coverage. Isaiah Horton also finished the game after getting banged up. Those returns mattered in a loss; they do not replace a season-long absence at the top of the depth chart.
SI's Zach Dimmitt, writing after Saturday's game when Elko first flagged a long recovery window, pointed to true freshman Aaron Gregory along with Kelshaun Johnson and TK Norman as candidates who may need more snaps. Monday's confirmation that Bussey is done for 2026 turns that depth-chart question from a week-to-week problem into a season plan.
