Maryland head football coach Michael Locksley met with media one final time Thursday evening ahead of the Terps' season opener at Northwestern.

Among the topics discussed were this week's game captains, update on a starting offensive lineman who has opted back in, this week's starting QB and the return game.

Week 1 Game Captains

Locksley began his Thursday press conference by announcing the Terps' Week 1 captains for Saturday night's game at Northwestern. The three captains will be senior running back Jake Funk, senior safety Antwaine Richardson and junior offensive lineman Johari Branch.

Funk and Richardson are the two most tenured players on the team, both in their fifth year, both coming off injury and have been identified by teammates as leaders throughout the offseason.

Branch, a newcomer, has earned a starting spot along the Terps' revamped offensive line at left guard. Saturday night's game will mark a homecoming for the Chicago native.

Terps to make racial justice personal statements on back of jerseys

Maryland and head coach Mike Locksley announced Thursday evening that football players would be wearing racial justice expressions on their warm up shirts as their jerseys when they take the field Saturday night versus Northwestern.

"Our players specifically chose to express themselves visually through what they will wear on Saturday," said Locksley. "They will have warm up t-shirts and some voluntarily have the ability to have nameplates on their jersey with words that were chosen as an athletic department as well as a 'One Terp' decal on the helmet. The expressions that our players have chosen, of solidarity to express themselves are Equality, Unity, Respect, Justice, Empathy, “I Got Your Back” and “Speak Up," which will all be displayed either on their t-shirts and some have chosen to use them in place of their last names on the back of their jerseys. I'm proud of our players and they have taken the lead on this and the fact they want to be part of the solution and not just part of the problem."

Fontaine needs time to get back

Locksley was asked about the availability of sophomore offensive lineman Austin Fontaine, who was considered by most the Terps' top returning interior offensive lineman heading into this season before he initially chose to opt out.

Earlier this week word leaked out that Fontaine had opted back in for this season and had rejoined the team. But don't expect to see Fontaine take the field Saturday night as he still has a ways to go before he's ready for game action according to Locksley.

"I think Austin returned to the team maybe a week and a half ago, maybe close to two weeks," said Locksley. "He came and met with me more than probably a couple of weeks ago and expressed an interest in wanting to return to the team. We had our individual meeting like I've had with other guys that have decided to opt back in. He feels very comfortable with where we are with our protocol and how we've handled things from a safety standpoint. So he's been back with the team for a little over a week and a half.

"Obviously, being gone for so long, the conditioning piece as well as maintaining his strength and his weight, we are gradually increasing and bringing him back. He participated in practice this week, performing on the scout team as part of his transition back and we are excited to have him back with us."

As to exactly when we might see Fontaine back in the lineup, nothing has been decided yet.

"We are taking it on a day-to-day basis and we've got to make sure he gets his weight back up, his strength numbers get going back up and we'll take it on a week-to-week basis with him," Locksley said.

Quick Hitters

- On true freshman Isaiah Jacobs' potential as a kick returner, Locksley said, "With the type of runner Isaiah Jacobs has proven to be through practice, we are excited about him. He becomes a weapon for us because of his open field ability."

- On naming a starting quarterback, Locksley jokingly said, "it is Lance Tagovailoa."

- Locksley said one of the things he's noticed about the team from the scrimmages is an overall increase in team speed.