The injury news was considerably brighter for the Badgers on Thursday.

  Mike Newkirk, who was supposed to be out the rest of the spring following shoulder surgery, returned earlier than expected and took part in some non-contact individual drills.

  Defensive end O'Brien Schofield suffered a fracture in his right hand, while working on a pass move on Tuesday.

  "But it's not displaced, they're just waiting for that to begin to heal a little bit," UW coach Bret Bielema said. "They club it up and he should be able to go Tuesday-Thursday next week."

  Cornerback Josh Nettles suffered a high-ankle sprain on Tuesday and could be out the remainder of the spring, although there's a chance he could be back for the spring game.

  Also, cornerback Mario Goins returned to the full practice after becoming dehydrated in the previous practice.

  The return of Newkirk, who went through his drills with even more enthusiasm than usual, was definitely a big lift for the defensive line. He took part in the first two practices before it was decided to do the surgery. He aggravated a previous injury from last season while lifting weights.

  "We want to get him back out doing some footwork," Bielema said. "Newk wanted to scrimmage last Saturday. They basically allowed him to get clearance to do footwork, non-contact, moving some things."

  One of the highlights from practice was senior tight end Travis Beckum, who has been unable to practice while recovering from shoulder surgery, doing some punting during a team punting session.

  Bielema said it went back to his first year at UW and the road game at North Carolina.

  "We were on the field the day before the game. I'm just screwing around with Travis," Bielema said of Beckum, who was the punter for his Oak Creek High School team. "He lines up and punts the ball about 70 yards in the air.

  "I said, `Hey, do that again.' He said, `I've only got one a day, otherwise my leg gets sore.' I kind of laugh about it and joke about it with him. Because of his limited spring ball, I asked him to do some things with the punting. ... He's got a live leg."

  His first couple punts weren't much, but Beckum was true to his word when he boomed his last one off the ceiling in the McClain Center.