After undergoing surgery Thursday evening, senior outside linebacker Vince Biegel is on the road to recovery, according to his father, Rocky Biegel, who spoke with 105.7 FM The Fan Thursday evening.

“He’s (Vince) in a good place – just trying to concentrate here on getting himself healthy,” Rocky Biegel told The Big Show. “He feels good this morning (Friday) here and he’s in a good place.

“Vince has been very fortunate in that he hasn’t really had any injuries at all to speak of. Football’s a great game, but you go into it knowing that injuries are a possibility.”

According to a release through the school, Biegel, who has started 32 games for UW, will “miss several weeks” after having surgery on his right foot.

“I really hate any time a player has to miss time due to an injury, especially a senior like Vince,” head coach Paul Chryst said in the release. “Vince has such a passion for football and loves playing the game. This team is very important to him and he is very important to our team. What you appreciate is that you know he will do everything in his power to get back on the field as soon as possible.”

Rocky Biegel, who played linebacker at BYU from 1988-92, indicated his son weighed all his options before ultimately deciding to undergo a procedure to insert a screw into the injured foot. The surgery was done at this point in the season in order to prevent a more significant injury. A potential return date (four weeks out) could be Oct. 29 when UW hosts Nebraska, though nothing is set at this point.

“He didn’t have any break; he just had a little, minor crack,” Rocky Biegel said. “We can fix it after the season or fix it after two games. But then if it breaks, then you’re out for eight (weeks). So what do you decide to do? After inserting the screw, guys can come back in four (weeks), but it’s a tough decision and you don’t know how you’re helping the team. One of the conversations I had with Paul (Chryst) was that anything he decides to do is the best thing for the team and the best thing for you. This is what the doctors said they needed to do.

“He elected to have this procedure done so he was able to come back this season rather than take a chance of making something worse, and then all of the sudden be out for eight weeks. The doctors are very confident and felt like everything they saw looked really good. He’s got good range of motion already this morning (Friday) and he’s moving his foot without pain. He feels good. He’s actually in treatment this morning and he’ll start working out Monday and start doing load- and weight-bearing stuff mid-week.”

Vince Biegel, who has nine tackles, including two for loss and two hurries, began the fall on the preseason watch lists for the Bednarik Award, Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy. He had the opportunity to forgo his final season of eligibility but returned to Wisconsin for a number of reasons, according to his father.

“Once he got his draft grades he was probably in that third or fourth round and he felt that if he came back and was able to play at the level he knows he can play at, he felt he could bump up his draft stock,” Rocky Biegel said. “He really enjoys playing college football. He really loves the team aspect of this and playing for the University of Wisconsin.

“From last year, he was playing at about 235 (pounds) and going into this season he was probably about 250, so he put on about 14 pounds. He’s a lot thicker and a lot bigger than he’s really been. He’s actually really maturing right now into his body.”

The No. 8 Badgers (4-0) face their first test without Biegel on the road Saturday against No. 4 Michigan (4-0). Redshirt freshman Zack Baun is listed as Biegel’s backup on the depth chart, but defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox could also move Jack Cichy outside and start Ryan Connelly in the middle.

“Wisconsin has some tough, battle-tested guys that are going to go and give it everything they got,” Rocky Biegel said. “The guys that are backing up Vince and the linebacking crew that we’ve got are one of the best in the country. I don’t know the nuances and how they’re going to shift guys around, but I don’t necessarily see a huge dropoff in our defense.

“When I talked to Vince earlier on in the week about the game plan, he said I feel better about this week than Michigan State. They have a lot of confidence as a team and they’re always the underdog. People are never picking them and nobody thinks they can win, but they just go out and do it. I’m picking the Badgers.”