With the Sept. 3 season opener against Buffalo quickly approaching, the Maryland football team held its first scrimmage of the summer Aug. 13.
Even though the scrimmage was not open to fans or media, Terps head coach Michael Locksley held a brief video conference afterward.
Here are three takeaways from Locksley after the scrimmage:
1. There were no injury issues that arose.
Locksley said there were no injuries of note after the scrimmage aside from a few nicks that players did not have an issue returning from.
Last season, there were multiple season-ending injuries to key players such as wide receivers Dontay Demus Jr. and Jeshaun Jones, defensive back Deonte Banks and linebacker Fa’Najae Gotay.
Locksley mentioned that Demus is on the right track and that the Terps will continue to monitor his workload. Demus had caught 28 passes for 507 yards and three touchdowns in five games prior to his injury last year.
“Dontay took part in the scrimmage and made a couple of good plays in there for us,” Locksley said. “He’s still right on track. Having him back is a plus for Maryland because of the leadership he brings in and the type of player he is. So, it was good to see him out in The Shell running, catching and blocking. We’ll continue to bring him back the right way, which is limiting his load.”
2. Locksley is looking to cut down on self-inflicted wounds.
Locksley has stressed the importance of Terps vs. Terps to his players, signifying the importance of not beating themselves. Maryland finished second in the Big Ten in penalties last year (88).
“Good teams don’t beat themselves in any of the three phases and that’s what Terps vs. Terps is,” Locksley said. “For us, it’s about not beating ourselves and having self-inflicted errors like turnovers, penalties, dropped balls and missed tackles. Those are all things that we can control. It’s about us managing and taking care of the things that we can control, which is half the battle to winning. I’ve seen some maturity from our team in that aspect. I’ve seen the leadership from within, which is part of it. And now it’s just a matter of playing good, smart football.”
To that end, Locksley is looking for sharper play on special teams.
“If there were there was an Achilles heel today, we still have some work to do on our special teams,” Locksley said. “Too many penalties and the execution of some of the techniques weren’t where we need them to be.”
3. Communication is key for the defense.
The defensive back group is one of the youngest on the team. With former safeties Nick Cross (drafted by the Indianapolis Colts) and Jordan Mosley (graduated) having departed, the Terps will deploy new safeties this season. Cross and Mosley combined for 46 career starts.
It is unclear who will start the season as the two safeties, but communication within the entire defense is key to fixing mistakes. Locksley mentioned that the communication was “clean” during the scrimmage, but it’s something the Terps will continue to work on.
“When you look at last season one of the areas we wanted to kind of clean up was to play better on defense,” Locksley said.
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