[media-credit name=’MATTHEW KUTZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Injuries have been mounting for the Wisconsin Badgers all year, and with UW's season grinding on for the ninth consecutive week, concerns have set in about the team's health. At the forefront of these concerns is the Badgers' lack of a bye week until the end of the conference season. By the time Wisconsin's bye rolls around, the Badgers will have already endured 11 straight weeks of action, not counting their fall practice prior to the season.

So, in an attempt to minimize the effects of the long season, head coach Barry Alvarez has altered his practice schedule for the second consecutive week to give his players some time to mend.

"Everybody's had a bye week but us," Alvarez said. "I'm sensitive to the length of the season and how beat up a lot of our people are, and I want them to be fresh down the stretch, so I've altered practice again this week to try to help [our guys]."

The past two Mondays, Alvarez has given his players the day off. UW's head coach has also altered his Tuesday practice routine, replacing full-pad workouts with practices where players don only shoulder pads to reduce the wear and tear endured by his players.

"I do think [the lack of a bye] is something that we do have to account for and we have to worry about a little bit," quarterback John Stocco said. "That's why I think Coach Alvarez did a good job last week. Whether it be tapering practices down or giving us last Monday off and same again this week, I think that really helped."

But even with the concern of some players and coaches, the Badgers know their schedule cannot be helped and they need to play through the pain these next four weeks.

"A lot of it is mentality and also the coaches. They have a great plan for us buying into the system and really believing, while making us give 100 percent," defensive lineman Mike Newkirk said. "There's two ways to look at it: you grind at something, sometimes it wears away. But that's also how you polish a rock: you grind at it and you grind at it and hopefully we come out as the polished rock."

Grounded rushing attack: After setting an early tone in its first five games, the Wisconsin ground game has not taken flight in recent weeks. Two weeks ago against Minnesota, running back Brian Calhoun entered halftime with seven rushes for 14 yards, and last weekend against Purdue, the junior had 16 yards on seven carries at the half.

"One of our goals is to try and establish the run early," Calhoun said. "We've kind of been away from that the last two weeks, but defenses are playing us a lot tougher and they try to stop the run with seven or eight guys in the box. So with that mentality, we've been going to the air a lot, and Stocco's passing a lot better."

However, if the run continues to be ineffective in the early part of games, the Badgers will have a tough time setting the tone and utilizing the style of play they're used to.

"The offensive line has got to be a step ahead," said Calhoun. "They need to see the blitz coming, and have some kind of scheme to counter-effect the blitz, or have some checks, different checks of different plays. That's something that the players and coaches definitely need to work on."

Crooks filling in: Starting middle linebacker Mark Zalewski injured himself in last weekend's game and did not return. The coaches kept him out as a precautionary measure in an attempt to bring him back into action this week, but that remains to be seen.

"He was stiffer yesterday than they anticipated," Alvarez said. "So maybe that was a very optimistic evaluation."

Replacing him in the lineup was Andy Crooks, who as a true freshman last year started five games for Alvarez but had fallen off the depth chart for most of the 2005 season. Given the chance to play again, Crooks shook off the cobwebs and hit his stride.

"Crooks, he's kind of down, not getting the reps after playing as a true freshman," strong safety Joe Stellmacher said. "But that never affected him knowing the game plan and staying in tune with everything. He stepped in on Saturday and did a good job for us, making some plays."

— Adam Parks contributed to this report.