The fifth practice of the Wisconsin Badgers’ fall training camp was a scorcher that might have brought the position “battle” at quarterback one step closer to being over.
While the battle between North Carolina State transfer Russell Wilson and Jon Budmayr is widely perceived as a technicality while Wilson completes his transition to Madison, Budmayr has been getting his share of first-team reps after ending the spring as the team’s No. 1QB. But Wednesday, Budmayr did not throw at all during practice, only handing off to the running backs in position drills. According to Jeff Potrykus of the Journal Sentinel, Budmayr is dealing with soreness in his right elbow, similar to the issue that cost him several weeks of his freshman season. Budmayr will likely be shut down for a little bit as the team aims to get him back sooner rather than later.
Wilson, meanwhile, looks like he’s growing more comfortable by the day. Offensive coordinator Paul Chryst has put him in several positions to make plays both with his arm and his feet, as Wilson has on plenty occasions displayed the mobility that made him a frightening dual-threat star atN.C. State the past three seasons.
Early in practice, Wilson took the snap in 11-on-11s and after faking a handoff to running back James White, rolled to his right and had plenty of time to locate his receiver, tight end Jake Byrne, way down the field. Indeed, Byrne was wide open 30 yards down the middle of field, and Wilson flicked the ball to him, right on the spot. On another play, Wilson dropped back and had plenty of time to survey the field (the offensive line was stellar Wednesday, by the way). Wilson eventually found freshman wide receiver Kenzel Doe about 36 yards down the right sideline, perfectly dropping the ball in over a defensive back’s head. Doe went to the ground to catch the pass, capping another impressive play from the offense.
Later on another playaction pass, Wilson maneuvered around the pass rush and found wide receiver Jeff Duckworth wide open. Especially when he’s on the run, Wilson’s throwing motion is more of a flick, as he often throws the football with a lot of air under it, but more of than not right on target.
Badgers begin practice fired up
Perhaps due to the heat, the Badgers seemed even more physical Wednesday. On one of the first plays of the first 11-on-11 session, running back Montee Ball took the ball on a carry to the right side. After turning the corner, he absolutely flattened safety Dezmen Southward right in front of the defensive players’ sideline. After Ball finished his run, several defensive players yelled at him, clearly upset for smacking Southward in just a practice run. Of course, the offensive players came to Ball’s side, and before long, head coach Bret Bielema had gathered the entire team at midfield. Bielema was very audible in telling the Badgers to practice with “no bull…” (You can fill in the blanks). Afterward, Bielema walked over to Ball and seemed to side with the defensive players in telling him there was no place for that kind of play so early in camp.
Practice Highlights:
? Defensive end Louis Nzegwu continues to impress during the first week of training camp with both explosiveness and sheer power. Wednesday, it was the latter that stood out when the redshirt senior flattened freshman Melvin Gordon on a run over the middle. Nzegwu has been all over the field, and his ability to excel against the run will be crucial for the defensive ends looking to replicate the production of former BadgerJ.J. Watt.
? Shortly after the incident with Ball and Southward, fullback Bradie Ewing found himself in a scuffle with Southward during the first 7-on-7 session. After one play was over, Ewing smacked Southward, who seemed like he was just walking away, in the helmet. Southward responded with a shove, and the players were quickly separated. Of course, little tussles are bound to happen in nearly every practice, especially in the afternoon sessions where the sun is directly overheard and seems to add nearly 20 degrees to the already 75-degree weather.
? Wilson wasn’t afraid to show off his arm Wednesday, as he let rip several passes deep into the endzone during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. However, the receivers didn’t always help him out, as the unit seemed a bit sloppier than usual in regard to drops. Redshirt freshman Isaiah Williams was the culprit on one such 7-on-7 play that initially looked promising. Later in practice, receivers Jared Abbrederis and Duckworth dropped passes on consecutive plays in a 7-on-7 session, prompting Bielema to yell, “Can’t a wide receiver catch the ball?!”
Injury Report:
? After Bielema announced several issues following Tuesday’s practice, Wednesday seemed to go a little better. Wide receiver Nick Toon left the field midway through practice with his left shoe removed and appearing to limp slightly. He did return to the field later, though he didn’t practice any more. Toon did stick around after practice for interviews, so the injury doesn’t appear to be serious.
? Linebacker Josh Harrison, who has looked impressive while taking some snaps for Chris Borland, who is being eased along, appeared to tweak his knee early in practice. Harrison returned to the field later and finished practice with two interceptions.
? Cornerback Devin Smith also left the field midway through practice, though he looked fine and returned later.
Quick Hits with… QB Russell Wilson
I caught up with Wilson for a few minutes after practice just to quickly discuss his transition to Madison. We’ll have much more on Wilson in the near future, especially in our fall registration issue.
On how he evaluates his play so early in camp: “I evaluate every play. If I’m successful, if it’s a positive play, a negative play. At the same time, I’m just trying to work to get better every single day, and that’s my goal, is to learn and get better every single day. If I make a great play, then make another great play after that and just keep going after that. If I make a bad play, then make some great plays. Keep on staying in the now and taking it one play at a time.”
On if he notices daily improvement: “To be honest with you, I don’t even know if it’s Monday or Tuesday. I just try to be in at camp. You don’t know what day it is, but I just try to [see], is Day 4 better than Day 3, and Day 2? Just keep moving and get better every single day, then see how I’m doing and keep going.”
On what else, if anything, he does outside of practice: “Playing football and just relaxing. I look at my playbook everywhere I go. I even have notecards and I bring them everywhere I go. That’s how I learn, that’s how I’ve got to learn. I’m learning the offense, and I’ve learned a lot of it — if not all of it — so far. I’ve just got to keep practicing it and keep working.”
On how comfortable he is with the UW offense: “I don’t have a percentage. This is what I could say to that: I feel like I’ve learned a lot. So I think that right now, even if you’ve been in an offense for four years, you never know it all. You’re never at 100 percent. That’s the way I look at it. I don’t believe I’m at 100 percent yet. You want to learn something new every day, in other words.”
On the biggest challenge he’s faced so far as a Badger: “Probably bringing the U-Haul up here. I brought a U-Haul, my fianc? and I brought the U-Haul with her car in the back and then my two friends, Scott Pickett and Casey Watkins, they drove my car. So we drove 16-and-a-half hours all the way up here; that was the hardest thing, all in the one day. That was the most challenging thing.”