MADISON, Wis. -- If Wisconsin defensive end Konrad Zagzebski is medically cleared this week, he fully intends to play Saturday against Western Illinois. Given that Zagzebski left the Badgers' last game on a stretcher and spent two hours without feeling on his left side, his decision might sound nutty to some.
"I'm sure there's people out there that are like, 'That's crazy to go back out there so quick and do that,'" Zagzebski said following Wednesday's practice. "If you love the game, you've just got to do it, and it's just part of it. You take that risk and you know the consequences from it. You just try not to think about those consequences, to be honest. You know they're there, but you love the game, so that's why you do it."
To Zagzebski, a senior who has waited his entire career to be a full-time starter, there aren't many opportunities remaining to suit up for the Badgers. And, despite the scary circumstances surrounding his departure against LSU, he is not worried about taking the field again so soon.
"You've just got to come out here and play fast," he said. "After that first snap, I don't see anything happening from it."
Zagzebski sustained a head and neck injury with 8:18 remaining in the first quarter Saturday night and was taken off the field on a stretcher to a local hospital for precautionary reasons. He ultimately was released from the hospital the same night and returned to Madison with his teammates. During his stay at the hospital, he said his grandfather provided score updates from the game off his cell phone.
"I don't really remember the play much," Zagzebski said. "I didn't get knocked out or anything, just kind of blacked out the play in my head altogether. The whole left side of my body went numb on contact. The trainers weren't sure what happened."
He added that he had been diagnosed with "a little bit of nerve damage," but that he had healed and there would not be permanent damage. Results from an MRI and CAT Scan came back negative.
During practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, Zagzebski watched from the sideline, absorbing mental repetition and performing only individual drills. He is expected to be back at practice at full speed Thursday.
His presence on the field will be needed because Wisconsin will be without starting nose guard Warren Herring, who underwent right knee surgery Wednesday and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. It also was announced that fullback Derek Watt underwent right foot surgery and would miss roughly eight weeks.
If Zagzebski is healthy enough to play, then Wisconsin will use a starting defensive line of Zagzebski and Chikwe Obasih at the ends and Arthur Goldberg at nose guard. Goldberg played more than 50 snaps against LSU, in part because of Herring's injury, which is roughly twice as many snaps as coaches had planned.
"I really didn't realize how many plays I played," Goldberg said. "I was tired but until I looked at the actual sheet when we were watching film, I was like, 'Whoa.'"
Badgers defensive coordinator Dave Aranda said freshman Conor Sheehy would move into the backup nose guard spot, with freshman Jeremy Patterson becoming the No. 3 nose guard and traveling with the Badgers to the team hotel. Now Goldberg, a redshirt sophomore who has played just one game, is the veteran of that group.
"I kind of just act like I have been there before," Goldberg said. "Kind of show them the way. Learn from what Warren showed me."
The object will be to try and lessen the impact of Herring's absence, though that is a task that is easier said than done. Herring has played in 36 career games, and he recorded four tackles before sustaining a fourth-quarter injury against LSU.
"Without Warren, we lose depth, we lose experience, we lose a run stopper, a good pass rusher," Zagzebski said. "We lose a lot with him. The young D-linemen will step up. I have great confidence in them."
Aranda said he was not sure how much Wisconsin's defense was affected by the loss of both Zagzebski and Herring during the LSU game. But he took responsibility for the team's late-game failures, which included not being properly aligned and poor tackling.
"I feel like I should have done a better job in prepping our guys for that," Aranda said. "There's all these checks and adjustments and everything else, but it's going to come down to fundamental things, and that's what it did, and we failed in that respect. I think as far as moving forward to get our young guys to play at the high level when it counts, playing fundamental football, that's the goal."
That goal will start anew on Saturday, and Zagzebski expects to be leading the charge up front.
"If everything goes correctly and all the doctors clear me," Zagzebski said, "I should be good to go."
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