Toon, Gilreath ruled out for Saturday
MADISON - Without Nick Toon and David Gilreath a week ago the Wisconsin offense managed to find a rhythm mostly through dependent tight end Lance Kendricks.
Come Saturday, the Badgers will be in familiar territory.
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"David and Nick probably won't play," Bielema said following Thursday's practice. "Nick actually went all day today but we're still working on the finer points. We're still working on the finer points and we're trying to modify the shoe to make sure he's got maximum protection as well as being able to support that toe.
"Obviously we don't want to go down this road again."
Gilreath, who suffered a harrowing concussion against San Jose State, has been practicing all week, albeit in a green no-contact jersey.
"Yesterday he practiced the entire time as well as today," Bielema said. "We're kind of waiting to make sure there's no symptoms after practice and after he goes through it."
Bielema expects both players to be back for the Michigan State game one week from Saturday.
"I really don't expect anybody not to be ready on our whole roster," Bielema said. "Except for Chris Borland."
New special team's faces:
After a rather lackluster performance against Arizona State in the special teams department, there have been a couple of new additions to the special teams units. And it has been in a mostly voluntary fashion.
"I think there are three different guys," Bielema said.
One of those players will be Jay Valai, but the other two slipped Bielema's mind at the time of the interview. Regardless, there have been plenty of requests from players regarding time on special teams units.
"We had about 50 guys volunteer for kickoff coverage this week," Bielema said. "Charlie Partridge said everyone came into his office. I don't know the exact number. He said 100, but I'm sure that was an exaggeration because we only have 118.
"But we had a number of guys come in and volunteer which was a great sign."
Quarterback notes:
Bielema said he would like to see Jon Budmayr get some reps against Austin Peay this weekend. However, he also realizes he said he would like to see him get reps in each of the first three games. Any playing time for Budmayr will depend on how the game is playing out.
"A lot of it depends on the flow of the game," Bielema said. "And what's happening for us offensively and obviously what we think he can have success doing out there."
-Curt Phillips has been cleared to participate in practice. Bielema made it clear the sophomore quarterback is close to being game ready.
"He's actually been cleared for practice but not contact," Bielema said. "Quarterbacks always wear green jerseys, but he's ran parts of team basically the last two weeks. He's really been getting involved in that. He did two minute the other day so he's right there.
"I don't know if he'll be cleared for next week, but for sure the week after."
Unfortunate loss for Dippel:
Tyler Dippel, a freshman defensive linemen will not be in attendance during Saturday's game. He recently lost his grandmother and will be in California for the funeral.
The following is the audio file from Thursday night.