MADISON — The dreary months of winter have come and gone and so has a significant portion of the offseason. Wisconsin football and its influx of new players remained inside Saturday for the third of 15 spring practices.

BadgerBlitz.com had boots on the ground inside the McClain Center and will be in attendance for the duration of spring.

Here are some notes from Tuesday’s practice:

The biggest news of the day is on the injury front, as a UW spokesperson announced that slot wide receiver Trech Kekahuna would miss the remainder of spring practice due to a lower body injury.

Kekahuna was off to the side for most of Saturday's practice and on Tuesday, he had a walking boot on his left foot. He’s expected to be healthy for fall camp. His absence opened up more opportunities for Tyrell Henry in the slot.

We also saw a new face see first-team reps on the offensive line, as redshirt freshman Emerson Mandell slotted in at right guard. Mandell is the third Badger in as many practices to start at the position, with fifth-year JP Benzschawel receiving first-team reps in practice No. 1 and graduate student Kerry Kodanko getting the nod in practice No. 2. It looks as though there’s an open competition for Joe Huber’s vacated spot in Wisconsin’s offensive line, with no particular frontrunner.

While Mandell was solid, Kevin Heywood and Nolan Davenport struggled in 11-on-11. Darryl Peterson frequently bested Heywood on Billy Edwards’ blind side, and Davenport, running with the twos, yielded several pressures to Tyreese Fearbry.

Still, there were some positive takeaways on the offensive side. Tanner Koziol garnered plenty of attention this offseason but hadn’t made much of an impact in the first two practices. On Tuesday, the veteran tight end caught a pair of touchdowns during 11-on-11 red-zone work.

Koziol high-pointed a pass from Edwards in the back corner of the end zone despite excellent coverage from Austin Brown as part of what might have been the highlight of the day. Koziol and the tight ends were also involved in the screen game – a wrinkle we hadn’t seen yet – with significant success, a positive sign for a unit integrating so many new pieces.

Second-year receiver Kyan Berry-Johnson flashed in one-on-ones, but he didn’t make much of a splash during team drills.

There were, however, some splashes of emotions. Starting left guard Joe Brunner did his best Michael Oher from “The Blind Side” impression and drove linebacker Christian Alliegro backward and all the way to the sideline before the pair flopped down to the ground well past the whistle.

Wide out Jayden Ballard – who caught my attention Saturday for his touchdown celebrations and trash talk – exchanged words and shoves with cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean during team drills as well.