clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Notes and quotes from Maryland football's second day of camp

Impressions of Derwin Gray and Damian Prince!

By Pete Volk
Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

First, a clean injury slate:

Now, the offensive line impressions:

This space will be continually updated as more information comes out.

And now, full quotes from Randy Edsall, via a press release:

On the first day of practice:

"I didn't think we were consistent enough for having the experience that we have coming back. I was disappointed that we weren't as crisp and as sharp as I would've liked us to be yesterday. I think there were some guys that did a good job, but overall it's probably typical of the first day and getting these guys out of their summer mode and their tempo and back into the swing of things and how we do things. I'm expecting today to be much better now that they've had a chance to get acclimated to what we need to do and then get a chance to show it to them on film."

On injuries:

"Evan Mulrooney won't be out here today. It's just an illness that he's got right now. Matt Gillespie might not be here today because of a death in the family. No serious injuries. Good from that standpoint."

On Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil:

"Cudjoe is everything that you want from a coaching standpoint. There's a guy who works hard all the time. Doesn't say a whole lot and is very focused and passionate about playing the game and doing things the right way. I love being around the guy. His work ethic is off the charts. He's the type of guy you've got to tell to slow down a little bit. It's great having him back out here. He's happy. He feels good.  He feels 100 percent. He's a good leader too."

On Yannick Ngakoue:

"I think that young Yannick has matured and is getting better. He's going to have a long way to go to overtake older Yannik because of the work ethic and how important it is to Cudjoe to make sure he's on the field. It's good to have that competition and we'll see how it works out. It's good to have two guys like that. And then maybe there are packages when you can have both on the field at the same time."

On Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil and Yannick Ngakoue:

"I think that Cudjoe has a little more experience and knows how to watch film and study tape; all those things. We wish we were in a situation last year when we could have redshirted him (Ngakoue). He would have been much better off to be redshirted. He's still learning how to play the game. How to prepare to play the game and to be a better guy at studying film that will put him in a better position to get better. Having a guy like Cudjoe ahead of him and being able to teach him and for him to be able to watch how Cudjoe goes about his business. Cudjoe is a great mentor and teacher for Yannick."

On Derwin Gray and Damian Prince:

"It's too early to even talk about those guys. With offensive lineman you're never going to see anything in terms of what you want to see out of them until you put the pads on. They're both great kids. Love them to death. They have ability. How quickly or how hard they want to work. How much time they want to study the playbook will determine how fast their development will go and how coachable they're going to be will determine where they are. We'll really reserve judgment until we get a little further down the in preseason when we can make a fair evaluation."

On Wes Brown:

"He's in better shape now than what he was. The thing is it's always hard to tell without pads on because when the defense is tagging off you might think it was good run but the guy was right there and tagged off on him. I was just proud of Wes that he was able to get back into shape and lose the weight knowing he's in a tremendous competition to play in game, playing time just show that's his important to him and he knew he needed to be in the best shape he could be coming in here and he got himself to that point."

On fitness levels for the team entering camp:

"I'll have a better idea on that tomorrow because we're going to get all the results from our testing from Drew [Wilson] later this evening. I'll address that tomorrow."

On what he looks for in camp:

"The whole focus for us in these first two and a half weeks is for us to become better with all the little things that it takes to be a good team. That's getting these guys out here and getting them better fundamentally and getting them better technique. What we are really doing for two and half weeks is really just focusing on who we are and what we can become. For us as coaches to find out who are the guys that we feel can contribute and give us the best opportunity to win.  That's what we need to find out in these next two and a half weeks. Once we get past that then we'll focus on James Madison. What we've got to do is put together those core guys that are going to go out and win games for us."

On if the Big Ten move is extra motivation:

"They're excited and we all are excited about that opportunity that the Big Ten presents.  For us, it's business as usual. Coming out here and doing the same things we always tried to do in order to make ourselves the best we can be."

On the tight ends:

"It's so hard to talk about guys after just one day. I thought the guys did the job they were supposed to do when you watched the film. Again, that's a position where we've got to wait until we put the pads on because not only are you catching balls, but you are also a blocker and there's only so much you can do without the pads on in terms of doing those things. I'll reserve judgment on those guys for a few days."

On the punter Lee Shrader:

"First day, there was inconsistency. Lee [Shrader] looked like he had a strong leg.  We'll see if he can be consistent day in and day out and consistent with the drop. That's something we'll have to continue to work on and evaluate."

Next Up In Maryland Football