Wisconsin Football Starters Exit Spring Practice With Unknown Injuries

During Saturday’s Wisconsin Badgers spring football practice, two notable injuries occurred during the first session when pads came on.

Kamo’i Latu, who has been starting alongside Hunter Wohler at safety this spring, suffered a shoulder injury. Meanwhile, defensive end James Thompson Jr. injured his left leg, resulting in both Badgers sitting out for the remainder of practice.

Latu’s injury happened during an attempted tackle early in practice, leading redshirt freshman Braedyn Moore to step up and take Latu’s place with the top defensive group. This reshuffle formed a Wisconsin football secondary consisting of Nyzier Fourqurean and Jonas Duclona at cornerback, Austin Brown in the slot, and Moore and Wohler at safety.

When Latu exited with an injury, he could be seen walking off the practice field with a Badgers trainer back to The McClain Center. Of note, Preston Zachman wasn’t available at practice, and walk-on Charlie Jarvis balled out.

Spring has finally 𝙃𝙄𝙏 💥@_charliejarvis x @AckerJackson pic.twitter.com/Lo18xv7tFQ

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) April 6, 2024

Meanwhile, Thompson’s injury occurred much later in practice, prompting Curt Neal to replace him in a unique defensive formation by the Wisconsin football team’s defensive coordinator Mike Tressel. At one point, he used just one down defensive lineman and paired that with five linebackers and five defensive backs — with the outside backers filling different gaps.

Reports indicate that Thompson and Neal have been EJ Whitlow’s top two defensive linemen in most formations to this point. When Thompson left, he walked the sideline with a trainer somewhat gingerly. The severity of the injury is unknown, but Wisconsin football has a depth issue along the defensive line, and Thompson is their one proven entity.

In situations where the Wisconsin football team has deployed three down linemen, Neal has slid inside and played the nose tackle spot while Ben Barten steps in. It’s also worth mentioning that Badgers’ young defensive linemen Ernest Willor Jr. and Jamel Howard did some nice things.

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