J.C. Jackson is still making an impression, plus other notes from Maryland football’s 1st week of practice

Maryland football just completed its first week of fall practice. We’ve done some reporting from these practices, but here are some things that didn’t fit in any other stories.

• Transfer cornerback J.C. Jackson drew rave reviews from his new teammates and coaches following his practice debut for Maryland football. We already wrote about this, but Jackson’s name was still on the tip of everyone’s tongue after Friday’s practice. At the end of the week, the chorus singing his praise hadn’t grown any smaller. Guys on both sides of the ball gushed about his ability, with several describing him as a “playmaker.”
• Darnell Savage Jr., who played corner for the team last season, has switched to safety. As of now, Maryland’s starting backfield looks like this: Will Likely and J.C. Jackson at corner, Savage and Josh Woods at safety.
• Caleb Rowe and Taivon Jacobs were held out of practice for both sessions available to the media last week. Durkin didn’t provide an estimate of when they’d be back.
• InsideMdSports is reporting that freshmen wide receivers Tino Ellis and DJ Turner could end up redshirting 2016. This makes some sense, as neither projects to be a starter and Maryland has a lot of wide receivers.
• Will Likely is practicing with the offense and the defense, all while wearing a yellow non-contact jersey. He’s too important to get hurt in practice, so the team isn’t taking any chances.
• This isn’t new, but Walt Bell’s offense has been really damn fast during practice. Players on both sides of the ball talked about how much quicker it was, and how that means they can’t have lapses in attention.

In other news

After a few practices, Perry Hills sure does look like Maryland’s No. 1 quarterback. But Durkin isn’t saying anything, and who knows what could happen by the time the season opener rolls around.

Virginia Tech transfer Melvin Keihn is ready to go for Maryland after sitting out last season.

On Sunday, Maryland snagged a commitment from long snapper Brock Sassler.

Maryland released a new roster with a few new transfers on it. Per The Baltimore Sun’s Daniel Gallen:

Linebacker Cal Kee (Nevada); wide receiver Javonn Curry (Lackawanna College/James Madison); defensive back Dionzae Foote (North Dakota State College of Science); wide receiver Chris Jones; defensive back Dimitri Lee (Coastal Carolina).

After a bit of a rough start to his preseason debut with the Steelers, former Maryland DB Sean Davis responded with a solid performance. Fellow rookie Terp A.J. Hendy corralled an interception for the Dolphins.

D.J. Turner got an overdue Profile in Terpage.

Enjoy your Monday, everyone. College football starts in less than three weeks.