Senior linebacker Daymion Sanford had to be carted off the field Saturday during Texas A&M’s “Maroon and White” spring game with what head coach Mike Elko described postgame as a lower-body injury.

The injury reportedly occurred while Sanford, a team captain, was making a tackle on a run play late in the first half of the exhibition. Play was stopped, a cart came out, and the Aggies’ medical staff put a cast around the lower part of his left leg before driving him off the field, according to On3’s Texas A&M site, AggieYell.

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While there were still about two minutes remaining on the clock before intermission, Texas A&M called halftime early.

Travis L. Brown of KBTX Sports captured the aftermath of the injury on video:

Sanford was the fourth-leading tackler on a Texas A&M squad that made the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance last season. Along the way, he took a sizable step as a junior.

While rising to the occasion in the absence of an injured Scooby Williams, Sanford went from starting just three games the season prior to becoming a defensive fixture for a unit that ranked 36th nationally with 21 points per game allowed during the 2025 campaign. That group stepped up in the first round of the CFP, holding eventual national runner-up Miami to a mere 10 points on a windy day in College Station.

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Sanford recovered a fourth-quarter fumble and matched a team high with seven total tackles in that game. He finished the season with 57 total tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 interception.

Sanford was one of five Aggies players named captain on Friday. The others are quarterback Marcel Reed, tight end Micah Riley as well as safeties Dalton Brooks and Marcus Ratcliffe.

“Daymion is a one-of-a-kind type of player,” Texas A&M sophomore linebacker Noah Mikhail said after Saturday’s spring game, per TexAgs.

“Losing someone like that is really tough on the whole team, especially as linebackers. We went and prayed in the huddle. We are hoping we can get him back as soon as possible.”