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 didnt 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, 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. Theres no malice to it, it kind of makes you kind of one-up the next guy. Its like, You went out and made a pick, Im going to get two tomorrow. Its 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 ro his performance in games, Woods added, Its 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 Durkins 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 off-season.

Coach Durkin tells us every day control the controllables, Woods said. Just make sure you control your attitude and enthusiasm, nobody can ever take those from you. You wake up in the morning and youre the guy who controls whether you want to have a bad attitude toward something or you want to feel positive about something.

Woods wears a rubber bracelet on his right wrist that serves as a constant reminder.

It reads, EFFORT. ATTITUDE. ENTHUSIASM.

Every single day, he said. I wake up, no matter how sore I am, how tired I am. No matter what, Im going to get better today. It became contagious almost. It became an expectation of me and my coaches saw that I could do it and helped me get to that standard.

Court, the schools assistant athletic director for football sports performance, noticed a difference from Woods in the weight room throughout the winter and spring workouts.

It has carried onto the practice field this summer.

He was a little bit more goofy class-clown last year. He worked hard and was a likable guy, Court said last week. This year, hes still fun to be around, hes just turned the business-like attitude a little bit more. Hes really a vocal leader. His work ethic has changed and his attitude and his enthusiasm in every part of our business has been contagious.

Said Woods, I think Coach Court was most impressed with the mental attitude toward everything. Working out, the physical part is only half the battle. You could be the strongest guy in the weight room, but if youre not feeling it that day, youre not going to put the weight up.

Conyers said before preseason practice began can see a new level of maturity and focus from someone he considers sort of a little brother as well as a close friend.

Everybody develops at a different time, I feel like its hitting him, Conyers said. I feel like hes 100 percent, This is what I want to do with my life, this is where I want to be. I want to be a leader, I want to be that guy.

Said Court, Hes one of the guys I can lean on and say, Hey Josh, make sure your guys are focused and lets get them going a little bit. You as a coach can sit back a little bit and he can take that job over.

Knowing what happened to Likely, and nearly happened to Conyers before he received an NCAA waiver to play one more season, the now 204-pound Woods is hoping for a healthy and productive senior year for himself and a successful one for the Terps.

I would say Im in a good position to meet my goals, he said. Its bittersweet how fast it [his career] went. Day by day, it took forever. In retrospect it was a flash. Its not over yet. It can all be taken away from me in one play. I have 12, maybe 13, hopefully 14 games to continue playing. Im just really thankful that Im still here.

Court has seen this happen before with players who have reached their senior year without accomplishing as much as they thought they would coming out of high school.

I think for the guys that really have a high care level for their school and for football and their teammates, they sit back and usually around the summer they think...Ive got to put everything I can into it, Court said. I wouldnt doubt for a second that Josh came to a little bit of a light turn on realization the last couple of months.

don.markus@baltsun.com

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As senior year approaches, Maryland safety Josh Woods takes a more serious approach to the game - Baltimore Sun