I may be having some terminology difficulties. A few minutes after a key or mouse input, the screen saver appears. If I make an input within a minute or two of the appearance of the screen saver, I am back to the screen I left without any intervening screens or actions. HOWEVER, if I wait more than a minute or two after the appearance of the screen saver, when I move the mouse or hit a key, I am presented with the lock screen. A mouse click to that gets me to sign in.
Perhaps the PC is really not "sleeping" at that point and I am working the wrong problem. What I want to happen is that once I hit a key or click the mouse when viewing the screen saver, I am immediately returned to the screen and apps I left --- no lock screen, no sign in. In other words, just like Windows 7 operated (I guess).