Locksley talks competition and depth, previews Saturday's scrimmage
- Ahmed Ghafir
- Aug 20, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2022
Maryland is now two weeks through fall camp as the team will take in their second and final scrimmage on Saturday. Head coach Mike Locksley met with the media following Thursday’s practice and noticed the “competitiveness that I hadn’t seen since I’ve been here” as the Terps enter a pivotal year three. While a few starters have already been identified at some positions, the increased level of talent has helped improve the depth across the roster to drive the increased competition.
“You start seeing the player-driven culture really surface, especially when you have hot days like [Thursday] and we've been able to, you know, get out and really have to work through some of the weather adversity. We've had rainy days, we've had some really hot days and I like the way that they've responded collectively,” Locksley said. “Has it been perfect? No, we still got a lot of work to do. And you know, but I do like the way this team is moving and moving forward toward our goal, which is to put a team out on the field September 4 that knows what to do and will do it with the right kind of discipline and handle the type of diversity that will happen during a game the right way.”
A handful of players remained out during Thursday’s practice as outside linebacker Ahmad McCullough has yet to practice through camp, while freshman fullback Joe Bearns remains sidelined after suffering a season-ending injury during spring ball. Wide receiver Jeshaun Jones was in attendance but did not practice on Thursday as Locksley noted the staff’s awareness of the “nicks and bruises” the players are beginning to work through. “The nicks and bruises, the everyday, not real concern. Today was one of those days where we wanted to give them a little extra time as we get into, I think this is practice 14 for us. The receivers and [defensive backs] tend to put a lot of mileage on and we’re doing all the GPS system stuff and so we chart the player load, but the expectation is they'll be able to play for us come West Virginia week,” Locksley added.
Saturday will also give Locksley and offensive coordinator Dan Enos an opportunity to scour the quarterback room, where Taulia Tagovailoa is expected to return as the second-year starter despite veteran Reece Udinski on his heels. Whether Udinski pulls off the upset remains to be seen, but for now, Locksley is appreciative of the stability at the position. “Having spent a lot of years at Maryland and having dealt with this instability of the quarterback room, it’s definitely a pleasure to have a returning guy like Lia and then to be able to add a guy like Reece [Udinski] and then the development of David [Foust], as well as Eric [Najarian] has really been, it's been great to have [because] we all know that have been here for any amount of time that the quarterback room has really been one of those rooms and again, I hate even talking about it because I want to make sure I don’t jinx us. But no, it's great to have a returning starter that understands the system and then and get the depth from a guy like Reece and the development of the other two has really helped our team.”
Maryland also has tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo returning and will play a focal role in the offense, but the emergence of second-year tight end Corey Dyches and impact that true freshman CJ Dippre brings helped to significantly upgrade the room. Maryland also signed Florida tight end Weston Wolff as he and Dippre took advantage of enrolling early into the program, a moment that helped to create the needed depth at the position. “Last year with Chig [Okonkwo] opting you know, Malik [Jackson] being kind of injured, we have to move Corey Dyches into tight end near the end of the year. But it's been great because we filled some needs in recruiting with the two freshmen, Weston [Wolff] and CJ [Dippre] coming in and they both luckily were here during the spring to go through spring practice. And I've been happy, kind of the depth that we've created, but also just the production that we've gotten out of the position during the course of training camp.”
Maryland also has a deep, yet unproven room of running backs as position coach Elijah Brooks has a handful of different players he can lean on through the season. While Tayon Fleet-Davis is expected to lead the unit, Locksley admitted the Terps have “always kind of been a running back by committee room” as the days of “one guy carrying it 35, 40 times just…isn’t beneficial.”
“We're very fortunate with Tayon Fleet-Davis coming back for that super senior year and being able to have his experience, but then the game experience, we're able to get Peny [Boone] and Isaiah [Jacobs] last season and then been really impressed, like I said, with the two freshmen, so we've been able to create some depth. With anything in the running back room, it starts with protecting the football, making sure that the guys are possessing the ball but then, you know, protecting the quarterback and doing all the little things without the football, which is key at that position.”
Fans have taken note of what could be for the Terps’ offense this season while the secondary returns nearly everyone to bolster the confidence. Veterans Jordan Mosley and Nick Cross are expected to return as the starting safeties this season, but the talent behind them in Beau Brade and Glen Miller have not gone unnoticed while cornerback and early enrollee Corey Coley is making the most of his time on campus. “Beau [Brade] was the guy that played last year for some and as I like to say, you know, anytime, we're going to always be in the developmental mode with these young players and I want to try to get them on the field because as we all know, injuries are part of the game. And even last year with COVID, not knowing who was going to be available, we made a conscious effort to develop our backups and make sure that they get enough plays so that come year two, it's not like they've never done it before. So, Beau was one of those guys that has benefited from those type of reps. You know, Corey Coley getting in early, a January grad and being able to go to spring ball, I think that's really helped him. Guys like Glendon Miller, I'm really pleased with the way the young secondary has been playing. You know, they're doing a great job of communicating and I think that that'll be one of the strengths of our team.”
One glaring concern through camp is the ‘self-inflicted wounds’ whether it’s drops, missed tackles, or penalties. The staff has made that an emphasis as they track each player’s progress through camp. “Each day we keep a tab of the self-inflicted wounds like on offense we call it our margin of error on defense, missed assignments, missed tackles and then we show him on tape. So, you know, what we hope is by continuing to hold them accountable, making sure we are showing them it on tape and talking about it, then sometimes, you know, the physical reminders of when you jump offsides, or you know, get a holding called and we have some physical reminder things that we do, we'll continue to do that. But as I've said before, that's going to be really critical for us this season. Two main things for us as being a team that when we play with discipline, and then the second will be how we respond when we face adversity.”
Locksley added that like last week, this Saturday’s scrimmage will be a situational scrimmage “but we’ll hit a few different situations that we didn’t get the first one.” Maryland’s head coach breaks down what he wants to see on Saturday.
As a staff, we've had some personnel meetings, we're starting to try to work groups together to see hey, what roles guys are developing for themselves. And in this scrimmage, it'll be a little more mix matching and really as if we were playing the game this week. And so, what we need to do is see which of these young players that we've recruited, will be able to help us in any of the three phases. And then continue to let the other guys define what kind of roles they'll have, you know, who are the guys that we count on to make plays for us offensively, defensively, special teams. And so, you know, with this, two weeks out this next week is going to be really important for players to really define the roles that they'll have and help us as we start preparing for West Virginia.”
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