Maryland's team is in mourning and considering ways to memorialize former teammate Jordan McNair, who died last month after collapsing during a team workout.
"We're a team playing for Jordan this year," coach D.J. Durkin said Tuesday at Big Ten media days in Chicago. "It's still a team going through a grieving process. You have 105 guys with different personalities and background and all dealing with it in a different way. I'm proud how they've come together and worked. I think these past couple of weeks we've had some really good time together. I think it's been helpful to be together."
The 19-year-old offensive lineman died June 13, two weeks after collapsing during a May 29 workout on the outdoor practice fields as temperatures hit 80 degrees on one of the first warm and humid days of the season. His family said he died of heatstroke.
Durkin said the program will announce plans created by a player committee to honor McNair in "the coming days."
"Obviously the loss of Jordan has been a tremendously difficult thing for your entire program to deal with this summer," he said. "Jordan was a special member of our team. He had a unique way about him that was infectious to his teammates. He was loved by everyone."
According to the Washington Post, McNair's family has hired the Baltimore law firm that represented the family of Freddie Gray, a man who died while in police custody in 2015. The report said the family is weighing its legal options.
The school is conducting an external review of its safety protocols which began in late June and could take a few months, according to the report.
