Given all of the negatives involved in Wisconsin’s worse-than-it-looks 2-1 start to the 2012 season, the Badgers could certainly us any positive morsel it can scrape up.
Enter Jared Abbrederis.
The junior wide receiver missed last Saturday’s narrow win over Utah State with a concussion/chest injury, injuries incurred in the Week 2 upset loss at the hands of Oregon State. Abbrederis returned to practice and, afterwards, declared that he has been medically cleared to play this weekend against UTEP.
“I felt good out there, flying around, making plays, being out there with my teammates, playing the game I love,” the receiver said according to madison.com. “It was good.”
Despite missing one full game and part of another, Abbrederis leads the Badgers with seven receptions for 110 yards, and has caught two of the team’s paltry three touchdown passes.
Just who will be getting Abbrederis the ball as he attempts to pad those stats, however, remains to be seen. Starter Danny O’Brien was benched at halftime last week in favor of Joel Stave, and both players were listed as the co-starters on the most recent depth chart.
The team knows who the starter will be as they have been informed of the coaching staff’s decision, although that decision will not be made public until shortly before kickoff this weekend. One clue as to who it may be, though? Stave took the majority of reps with the first-team offense during practice Tuesday.