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Mike Locksley talks to media 1 day after Maryland loss to Penn State

Notes from Mike Locksley's Sunday media teleconference.

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

A day after Maryland's 31-30 loss to Penn State at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, interim head coach Mike Locksley spoke to media members on a short conference call. Here's some of what he said:

  • Freshman wideout D.J. Moore, freshman offensive tackle Damian Prince, senior guard Andrew Zeller and sophomore defensive lineman Kingsley Opara are all "day-to-day" with various injuries. Locksley said the team would know more after a couple of the players get MRIs this week.
  • Throughout the week, players stressed that Locksley emphasized finishing games. The coach was satisfied with the Terps' performance in that department, saying "This was the first time we collectively played a 60-minute game."
  • Locksley said Brad Craddock suffered a high-ankle sprain when a Penn State defender ran into him after a field goal attempt, but brushed aside any idea that it would affect his performance. "I don't anticipate him having any issues," he said.
  • On Denzel Conyers and DeAndre Lane: "it's good to see a kid like DeAndre get rewarded. He's worked his butt off since he's been here, and he's always been a guy who's been the fourth or fifth guy in at the receiver position," he said. "I know Denzel was involved in a hit on the quarterback and a fumble recovery, and DeAndre scored his first touchdown as a Terp. I know when we saw the celebration after he scored, a lot of these guys were really excited for him."
  • On putting more guys in on offense and defense: "We made some decisions that we want to play a lot of players," Locksley said. "I know I talked to both sides of the ball about making sure we get some guys involved early in the game that hadn't typically been involved, because our starters were playing so many snaps and in the fourth quarter we weren't always as sharp as we needed to be. When you do that, they also feel like they have some ownership in the program, and their concentration level goes up. We have better effort in practice when guys feel like they're going to play, and both those guys reall did a good job with that extended playing time."
  • He seemed satisfied with his coaching staff's performance in its first game post-Randy Edsall. "I liked the way the game was called," he said. "We were agressive in all three phases, like we said we needed to be. I didn't see any glitches in communication. There were times I took over calling plays, and we were able to make a seamless transition."
  • Locksley has yet to officially name a new offensive coordinator, but  tight ends coach John Dunn has clearly become a huge contributor on the coaching staff.  "I got to give him a lot of credit for picking up some of the slack with all of the other things I've had to do," Locksley said.