The night before every football game, MJ Morris has a prayer session with his family to ease his mind.
On game days, after breakfast and meetings, Morris calls his grandmother in the limited time he has to himself. The two talk to God and pray over everything together. She reiterates to Morris that God will lead him and to have no worries.
Family and faith drive Morris. They relieve stress off his shoulders, allowing him to play freely every Saturday.
“After that, I’m mentally ready to go,” Morris said.
Morris’ recovery is planned after each game. He endures a seven-minute full-body ice bath, then spends a few minutes in the hot tub. He ends by icing his shoulder, elbow and bicep to make sure his arm — his “prized possession” — is ready to go by the upcoming Monday.
He takes his mind off football for the rest of the night. It usually ends with more family time.
Those days and nights will be different this season for Morris, who now dons a new jersey.
The 247Sports’ composite four-star rated recruit out of high school first settled on NC State after countless offers. Morris played for the Wolfpack for two seasons, totaling 14 touchdowns and more than 1,300 yards, but entered the transfer portal last winter after a disappointing sophomore season.
[Quarterback MJ Morris transfers to Maryland football from NC State]
That’s when he found himself drawn to Maryland, transferring into an open quarterback competition when Taulia Tagovailoa departed.
It took Morris a few weeks to get comfortable with the team. He felt fully acclimated before Maryland’s annual Red-White Spring Game, right after undergoing “Terp Time”, what coach Michael Locksley deems as the winter conditioning phase of the program.
The training was hard at times for Morris, but it allowed him to build relationships — starting to create his Terp family.
“Going through that group adversity with your boys and being able to pick somebody up to the line and just [say] ‘Come on I got you let’s do this again,’ that brings somebody together,” Morris said.
Morris’ main competitors for the starting quarterback job, Billy Edwards Jr. and Cameron Edge, have both been with the program for two seasons. They’ve become familiar with the coaches, teammates and system, a luxury Morris doesn’t have.
That’s what made this past summer crucial for Morris. It was consistent and methodical.
He got up at 6:30 a.m., watching film while drinking his morning coffee. He lifted at 8 a.m. with the other quarterbacks, followed by recovery — similar to after a game, dipping into a cold tub with maintenance to his arm and knees.
[Quarterback, offensive line uncertainties remain following Maryland football’s spring game]
The redshirt sophomore practiced for an hour-and-a-half in the afternoon, watching more clips for 30 minutes right after. Another ice tub or shower comes next, and he watches even more film afterward.
Morris’ relaxation comes at night, when he plays Call of Duty: Warzone for a couple of hours with teammates before going to bed. Even that has a competitive spirit.
“When everybody’s able to get on around the same time, we’re going to play squads,” Morris said. “It’s just good vibes … bonding, getting closer as friends off the field.”
When Maryland faces UConn in its season-opener on Saturday, Morris has a chance to take his first in-game snaps as a Terp. He said his body and mind are “feeling outstanding.”
But like when the Georgia native transferred to Maryland, there’s no guarantee he’ll start. What is a guarantee is his faith and family, who he talks to daily — despite being 12 hours away.
“My family, they keep me centered,” Morris said.
