Maryland spring practice news: Perry Hills back in practice, Damian Prince new No. 1 RT

Quotes from Randy Edsall after the Terps' most recent spring practice session, via a release from the school:

On returning to practice after break:

"This is part of the mental toughness, the focus because you see today coming back who can retain and execute the stuff that we put in for the first five practices. As you go and watch the film there are going to be some guys who did a really good job today, and then there are other guys you can tell they didn't stay sharp. They didn't do the things they needed to do from the mental standpoint. It is all those little tests that you have for them and situations you put them in where they are not comfortable because as you get into the season there are going to be times where they are not going to be in comfortable situations or everything is not going to be smooth and all that. You get an opportunity to see how people will react. So today was really good."

On Perry Hills returning to practice:

"He felt good back out there. He needs all those reps and everything else. That was one thing - I thought our tempo could have been a lot better on offense. Getting him back out there helps us."

On whether Perry Hills returning to practice will put more pressure on Shane Cockerille:

"I am one of those guys that if you need to have someone pushing you to take your level of performance to a higher standard, I don't know if that is really good. You have to be self-motivated to go out there and do the things you need to. I think it is good because you don't get complacent, but if you allow yourself regardless if you are a starter or not a starter, if you are not going to go out there and push yourself and you are going to rely on someone always pushing you that is not always a good sign. It is good that he is out there and it is good that he is doing that. Shane has got to put it upon himself to say hey I have to fight to be the best that I have to be every day regardless of who is the second-team guy, who is the third-team guy or anything along those lines. That just doesn't go for Shane that goes for every position. That is what we want. Those are the kind of guys that we want to recruit - that are self-motivated. It is great that they are being pushed, but they don't ever worry about that because they are taking it upon themselves to push and be the best they can every day."

On position changes after the first five practices:

"We took a couple of guys and moved them around. We took Antwaine Carter and moved him from free safety to field corner. We took Josh Woods and moved him from field corner to free safety. We are looking at Zach [Dancel] from strong safety to free safety and Denzel [Conyers] from free safety to strong safety. Just trying to get them some work at different spots and whoever is our third-best safety is going to be in the game. Between those two, they can get some work at the other safety spot. We wanted to see Damian [Prince] at right tackle with the first group and put Mike [Dunn] over to left tackle, same type of thing."

On if he plans to keep rotating the first-team offensive line during spring practice:

"We want to make sure we are getting some of those guys work. We are really not moving the young guys. We are leaving Damian [Prince] at right, and we are leaving Derwin [Gray] at left. Now which of those two guys is the better of the two because we know Mike [Dunn] can play left and we know Mike can play right. Now it is which one of you two guys wants to be the second tackle. Now you give them both opportunities to prove what they can do and you just watch the film and see where it goes from there."

On the development of Roman Braglio and Malik Jones on the defensive line:

"Roman [Braglio] has been around now for a few years so we expect him to be a guy who can be an anchor on the defensive line for us. You can see that he is getting better. He plays with a high motor. He is tough, he is aggressive, and he is physical. He was gotten stronger; he has put on weight which is beneficial. Malik [Jones] is starting to come around. You can see him, his body is different now than what it was. Every rep that he gets out there this spring is really, really good. We have him slotted behind Quinton [Jefferson]. Just working to get him to where he can be a guy that we can count on in the fall and I like the progress that he is making. He is just going to have to continue to keep working on the technique and continuing to get stronger. I think those two guys had a good offseason and I have seen good things out of them so far."

On the play of the running backs:

"We will find out a little more Wednesday and then Saturday. Now we will get into where we will practice thud on Mondays, do some scrimmaging on Wednesdays, then scrimmage all day on Saturdays for the next three weeks. There is good competition. You have Brandon [Ross], who I have been impressed with. Jacquille [Veii] is doing a good job. Albert [Reid] is running. You have some depth and you have some competition there, Joe Riddle, so you have competition there. You have guys really working. Wes [Brown] is on the self for the spring, but anytime you have that kind of depth and that kind of competition it is going to make you better. We will see how everything goes when we really hit it live on Saturday when we scrimmage."