Wisconsin dealing with QB injury issues again after Billy Edwards Jr. leaves season opener

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin is dealing with an injury to its starting quarterback for a third straight season.

The Badgers are crossing their fingers that the non-contact injury that sent Billy Edwards Jr. out of their season-opening 17-0 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Thursday isn’t as serious as the issues that sidelined Tanner Mordecai for multiple games in 2023 and ended Tyler Van Dyke’s season prematurely last year.

Edwards started limping after making a handoff in the second quarter, and he eventually went to the locker room with what school officials described as a lower-body injury. The Maryland transfer watched the second half of his Wisconsin debut while wearing sweats on the sideline.

“I don’t know a whole lot,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said. “Good to see, though, that he was back out there, able to be a part of the game and be with our team and things like that. Hopefully that’s a really good sign for things moving forward.”

Injury concerns at quarterback have hampered Wisconsin throughout Fickell’s tenure.

Mordecai missed 3 1/2 games in 2023 with a broken hand as Wisconsin went 7-6.

Wisconsin was 2-0 last year when Van Dyke tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the third game of the season, knocking him out for the rest of the year. The Badgers finished 5-7, ending a string of 22 straight winning seasons and bowl appearances.