COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland football team held its first practice in pads of the 2015 season on Friday morning at the on-campus practice facility.
After practicing in shorts and shells during the early portion of the week, the squad amped things up with a two-hour practice in full pads on Friday.
Head coach Randy Edsall and his staff ran the team through individual drills before moving into live game situations. The team ended the practice session with goal line drills and a special team's period.
Coach Edsall raved about some of the position battles and how the competition throughout the depth chart is boasting the entire team's play. One particular battle that has everyone's eye early in camp is the one at quarterback where junior Caleb Rowe, junior Perry Hills and senior transfer Daxx Garman are battling for the starting job.
“They're competing hard,” said Edsall. “They're coming on. We're going to evaluate it based on how they do in practices and scrimmages. I'd like to make a decision as quick as we can so we can get some continuity, but they're competing and we will continue to evaluate it through the next week or so.
“They've all had their moments – I'm just looking to see who is going to be the consistent guy. Who is the guy that can manage the game and who is the guys that understand situations. It's a combination of things and they have done those things, but nobody has done it on a consistent basis to my liking yet. We'll know a little bit more after tomorrow afternoon's scrimmage.”
Sophomore Jermaine Carter is looking to take on a larger role after a strong redshirt freshman campaign in 2014. The linebacker made numerous big plays in both run defense and pressuring the quarterback on Friday.
“Jermaine is doing a good job,” said Edsall. “The big thing for Jermaine is I just want to see him consistently practicing at the high level that he's always given and always practiced with. We just want to keep him stepping up and elevating his game. “
The Terps will have their first two-a-day on Saturday with a practice in the morning and a scrimmage in the late afternoon.
Notes:
*Head coach Randy Edsall announced the addition of Dexter Foreman to the roster. The quarterback spent three years at the University of Minnesota.
More from Coach Edsall:
On losing linebacker Abner Logan to an ACL injury:
“Anytime somebody gets hurt it's unfortunate and you feel for the young man. We don't have a surgery date yet. The medical staff wants the swelling to go down and work on the range of motion, so as soon as we get that we will let you know. It's unfortunate. He's put a lot of hard work into being a starter for us and he was going to have that opportunity through training camp, so it's disappointing. But we're going to support him and keep him involved and have him help anyway he can once he gets through that surgery.”
On Abner Logan's replacement:
“We moved Jefferson [Ashiru] there and put him with the one's the other day and he did a good job, so we'll have Jefferson, Brock [Dean], Isaiah [Davis], Brett Zanotto. And again we're looking for guys that could play WILL, it might be Gus Little. Again, we are keeping all of our options open, but I like what I saw from Jefferson in the last couple of practices.”
On the competition at center:
“There's been good things there with Evan [Mulrooney] and Brendan [Moore]. We're going to look for our five best guys and guys that can come off the ball and make sure we run the ball better. Those guys are competing. Today was the first real day in full pads and we're going to scrimmage tomorrow afternoon. They'll be off on Sunday and by Monday we'll probably have some changes.”
On the running back competition:
“The way we've had it is really Wes [Brown] and Brandon [Ross] have been splitting reps with the first group and Ty Johnson and Joe [Riddle] with the second group and Tehuti [Miles] and Marcus Smith with the third group. When we got into the specialty situations it might have changed a little bit. We're just trying to keep all of those guys fresh. I think Brandon is having a really good camp so far. Wes is doing well. Ty Johnson is really doing a nice job and Joe has improved, as well. So that's what you want – you want to have competition. I'm pleased with what I've seen from those guys.”
On the progression of Wes Brown:
“I see a totally different young man. He's a totally different guy than when he got here. I'm really proud of how he's learned from some of the mishaps that he's had and how he's emerged as a leader to hold other guys accountable.”
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