Woods taking more focused approach to senior season
McDonogh graduate trying to make most of final run in Terps’ defensive backfield
COLLEGE PARK – Josh Woods never took his football scholarship at Maryland for granted, and he never was the kind of kid who assumed playing time was a given, especially at the college level.
Yet watching two of his best friends on the team go down with season-ending knee injuries a year ago, and then experiencing his own struggles, has seemingly given the former McDonogh standout a new sense of commitment.
Woods is the first to admit that his junior year didn’t go the way he wanted. The torn ACLs suffered by fellow safety Denzel Conyers and cornerback Will Likely III a month apart took their toll on Woods.
“It definitely hit home,” recalled Woods, Season opener Sept. 2, noon TV: Fox Sports 1 now a redshirt senior and solidly in the mix for a starting job along side junior Darnell Savage Jr. “But it made me appreciate being able to play more, it gave me a reason to play.”
Woods initially took over for Conyers at safety, starting five straight games, but some inconsistent performances led to first-year coach DJ Durkin rotating a number of players, including freshmen Qwuantrezz Knight and Elijah Daniels.
The return of Conyers, who is back practicing as he tries to regain his pre-injury form, as well as the arrival of highly touted freshman Markquese Bell and the development of sophomore Antoine Brooks, has led to healthy competition as the Terps prepare for their Sept. 2 opener at Texas.
“It just brings out the best in everybody,” Woods said recently. “There’s no malice to it. It kind of makes you kind of one-up the next guy. It’s like, ‘You went out and made a pick. I’m going to get two tomorrow.’ It’s only going to make everybody better.”
Making a waving motion with his hand to demonstrate how up and down he was last season with everything from his approach to practice or his performance in games, Woods added, “It’s a grind. Football is much like life. You can be doing everything right and just something throws you off track.”
Woods said after being in a “funk” at the start of spring practice — perhaps an emotional hangover from the second half of his junior year — his performance began to improve when he took one of Durkin’s favorite sayings to heart.
It has contributed to Woods making one of the biggest jumps in gaining strength among his teammates, according to strength and conditioning coach Rick Court. Woods also put on 10 pounds during the offseason.
“Coach Durkin tells us every day … control the controllables,” Woods said. “Just Senior safety Josh Woods has made one of the biggest leaps in gaining strength among Maryland players, putting on 10 pounds during the offseason.