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Injury tidbits from College Park

A few quick hitters on a handful of Maryland players coming off injuries. ...

* Cornerback Avery Graham missed extensive time with a groin injury in the second half, but he could play a bunch against East Carolina in the Military Bowl with Dexter McDougle (collarbone) out.

"I think he was hesitant when he first came back, but he seems to be over that now," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "He's working pretty hard."

* It looks like right guard Justin Lewis will be fully ready for the bowl game. He's already ahead of schedule in his return from a knee injury suffered Nov. 20 against Florida State.

"He practiced today," Friedgen said. "Actually, we weren't anticipating him coming back until we got back, but yesterday he ran pretty good. I didn't see the offense [Thursday], but [athletic trainer] Wes [Robinson] came up to me afterward and said he did fine. He only worked team period."

* More an item to keep an eye on going forward, but redshirt freshman C.J. Brown (broken collarbone) is back at practice for the first time since getting hurt Sept. 11.

"He's working some," Friedgen said. "I don't know if he's full go. He's throwing the ball. He's not where he was. He's getting close. I think he'll be ready for spring practice. ... He's getting some reps, but his arm strength still isn't want it used to be, which is normal if you haven't thrown the ball for three months."

Maryland quarterback C.J. Brown progressing in recovery

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen fielded plenty of questions the last few months about Danny O'Brien and Jamarr Robinson.

C.J. Brown, meanwhile, was barely mentioned after his redshirt freshman season ended barely after it began. Brown suffered a broken collarbone Sept. 11 against Morgan State in his first series and is out the rest of the year.

Friedgen said Brown was in to visit him earlier this week as Maryland faces the start of its stretch run.

"He's doing OK," Friedgen said. "I just told him he has to hang in there, he has to sit in the meetings and learn as much as you can. That's an area where he was coming on. I still think he's got the potential to be a very, very good quarterback. He's very mobile and he has a strong arm and a smart guy. He's just further behind because of his high school development."

That was the issue all along, and it's what permitted O'Brien to create some separation in the spring and summer. Now, O'Brien has secured the starting job and has thrown nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He's fifth in the ACC in passing efficiency (ahead of Miami's Jacory Harris and Clemson's Kyle Parker, among others), and Maryland has won three of his four starts.

Friedgen insists O'Brien's success doesn't impact how he views Brown's future with the program.

"Obviously, he sees Danny succeeding, and I'm sure that's something that's on his mind," Friedgen said. "But I like all my kids. Who knows what the future is going to hold? I'd like to keep all the quarterbacks we have right here."

Terps linebacker Whitfield lost for year with knee injury

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen hoped he would receive encouraging news when linebacker Marcus Whitfield underwent an MRI exam on Monday for his injured knee.

Instead, the redshirt freshman received a painful diagnosis: A torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament, as well as damage to the ligament behind his patella tendon.

Whitfield, who appeared briefly on special teams in the opener against Navy before Saturday's cameo in the second quarter against Morgan State, will undergo surgery and his season is over.

"He played one play," Friedgen said. "The ironic part about this whole thing is [quarterback] C.J. Brown's first play as a college player, he got hurt [with a broken collarbone]. Marcus Whitfield's first play, he got hurt. He played one play and I would just hope we can somehow get a medical redshirt. Play one play and lose a whole year, that doesn't seem fair in the second game of the year."

And in the Terps' second game, there shall be ... quarterback roulette? Perhaps.

The first of three topics Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen was asked to address on this morning's ACC teleconference dealt with his quarterbacks.

Chalk that one up in the "no shock" category.

Junior Jamarr Robinson started and threw four passes in the first three quarters. They weren't particularly great throws, and an interception in the second quarter probably cost the Terps a field goal.

Still, quarterback questions will get raised when a reserve is tossed into a tie game early in the fourth quarter --- and especially when it comes just after a long punt return hands a team possession inside its opponent's 20.

And so Friedgen soldiered through the first of more than a few quarterback questions in the next couple days.

"I think we obviously wanted to throw the ball more," Friedgen said. "We were running the ball pretty well. We got the ball down there and threw an interception and got a little bit tentative about doing that. I feel very confident in our ability to throw. We have a lot of weapons to throw it to and it'll happen as time goes on."

Of course, the weapons aren't what's in question after the brief switcheroo (Danny O'Brien fumbled his first snap, and Robinson returned for the next possession). It's the guy who is finding them.

"Obviously, the fact he fumbled, you can second-guess yourself," Friedgen said. "We still have a lot of confidence in Danny. I think we'll play both. I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up playing C.J. Brown. We have some talented quarterbacks, and the one thing they don't have right now is experience."

If ever there will be a chance to use three quarterback, it should Saturday when Morgan State. But it would certainly be a rare instance

The last time Maryland used three quarterbacks in a game was the 2008 opener against Delaware, when Jordan Steffy started, Chris Turner was an injury replacement and Josh Portis received a brief look with his run-heavy package.

Before that, the Terps' previous three-quarterback night was in a 55-6 loss at Virginia Tech in 2004 when when Joel Statham was ineffective, Jordan Steffy was concussed and Sam Hollenbach exploited a valuable opportunity with solid play in garbage time.

The last time Maryland was afford the luxury of using three quarterbacks because of a blowout was a 55-21 pummeling of Duke in 2004.

But back to the present. It would seem two quarterbacks will play for Maryland on Saturday. Maybe three.

And it's safe to say Saturday's primary storyline is already defined, more than three full days before kickoff.

"As far as Jamarr is concerned, it's not a negative thing," Friedgen said. "But we have other guys who can play."

Post-practice quick hits: Aug. 10

It's one day into Maryland's preseason camp, and there wasn't a whole lot that went down in College Park.

In fact, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen was at his most entertaining talking about doppler radar (more on that in the next post).

But, readers want some sort of an update. And some sort of an update they'll get.

Namely, on quarterbacks, where Jamarr Robinson is penciled in as the Terps' starter.

"I saw more of a leadership role by Jamarr," Friedgen said. "I thought his fundamentals were better. I thought his reads were better."

And as for the reserves? Friedgen's greatest praise of the day was reserved for the redshirt freshman who wasn't constantly talked up last year.

"The guy I saw some improvement from was C.J. Brown," Friedgen said. "I thought he did some things better than he did in the spring. I sat in a meeting with him , and to me he was a lot sharper than what he has been in the meetings. Maybe he is starting to mature a little bit."

* Today was anchor Isaiah Ross' first practice since tearing his ACL last November.

"He looked OK," Friedgen said. "I think the big test will come when we have pads on."

* Defensive end Carl Russell cramped up during the single session.

* Friedgen wasn't particularly effusive about anyone on the first day. Consider it a product of a small sample size and the team going out without pads to open camp.

"It's hard to tell," Friedgen said. "They're running around in their underwear out there. It's not football. Today, it's who doesn't go offsides, who knows who to block. A couple of the young kids are lost. Offensively, we installed quite a bit. Defensively, we installed quite a bit, especially coverage-wise. You're taking a freshman, first day, their heads are like 'The Exorcist.'"

* Tomorrow's schedule: 9:40 a.m. (moved from afternoon to avoid threat of thunderstorms)