MADISON — The dreary months of winter have come and gone and so has a significant portion of the offseason. Wisconsin football returned from its Spring Break and returned to the practice field for the fourth open practice.

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:

Luke Fickell made himself available to the media after practice, and he gave an important update on wide receiver Mark Hamper.

Fickell said the Idaho transfer is out and that they “don’t know exactly when he’ll be back.” Fickell didn’t explicitly state the reason for Hamper’s absence.

Possibly due to the shallow wide receiver group, Jeff Grimes and the offense emphasized misdirection during 11-on-11 segments, with jet sweeps, reverses, bootlegs and screens making up most of the plays.

While this didn’t result in many explosive plays, it gave the media extended looks at the running back room’s versatility. All four tailbacks caught passes and participated in pass-blocking drills. Dilin Jones struggled early in pass protection, getting bull rushed by Tyrese Fearbry and Christian Alliegro before letting Tyler Jansey by.

Jones recovered after the three consecutive reps and finished the drill strong. Darrion Dupree lost a fumble, but he and Cade Yacamelli were solid overall.

Tyrell Henry and Vinny Anthony capitalized on the absences of Trech Kekahuna – who remained in a boot but was using a knee scooter instead of walking – and Hamper.

Henry was particularly involved, linking up with Billy Edwards for a pair of big plays. The first came on a deep ball up the seam, with Edwards fitting the ball between three defenders straight into the hands of Henry, who fell into the end zone unscathed.

Later, Edwards was forced of the pocket – possibly a sack in game scenarios — and he fired a throw roughly 25 yards up the right sideline. Henry reached up, snared the pass and got one foot in bounds before crashing into the padded wall inside the McClain Center. As a whole, Edwards was more consistent than in past practices.

Quarterback Danny O’Neil also had a solid day. Things got messy beyond the top two signal callers. Milos Spasojevic threw an interception on a bad deep ball and wasn’t able to complete the handoff on a stretch run to Gideon Ituka – resulting in a fumble.

Reserve center Joey Okla and Carter Smith had a pair of botched snaps, and Smith threw an interception during team drills. On the offensive line, Kerry Kodanko remained the starting right guard.