Sophomore cornerback Aaron Henry gets the question all the time.

He might be in the weight room with his University of Wisconsin football teammates, or in the locker room, or walking around campus. Everybody wants to know why Henry always seems so happy.

"My spirits are great, man," Henry said after Thursday's practice. "My spirits are always doing good. That's never a problem.

"I'm a blessed man. I don't have anything to complain about. Even with all this stuff going on."

"All this stuff" includes the torn ACL in his right knee, which happened in bowl practices in December and ended Henry's promising freshman season, as well as the recent deaths of two friends in Florida.

Henry, from Immokalee, Fla., lost one friend from high school in a car accident. Also, Ereck Plancher, a redshirt freshman wide receiver at Central Florida, died March 18 after voluntary strength and conditioning drills.

UW sophomore linebacker Culmer St. Jean was a teammate of Plancher's at Lely High School in Naples, Fla.

Henry said he befriended Plancher while competing against him both in football and track and field.

When compared to such tragedies, what does Henry have to complain about?

"It could have been worse," Henry said of his injury. "I just thank God. I'm just rehabbing my knee. It could have been my neck or, God forbid, it could have been anything else. I'm just grateful."

UW coach Bret Bielema, who went through three torn ACLs during his playing days, firmly believes a positive outlook is one of the keys to returning from a serious injury.

"If you go at it with an idea that it's a setback and do anything (other) than positive thinking, it could be detrimental," Bielema said. "All of our guys ... we kind of had a rush of (ACL injuries) and they all approach it the right way."

Henry is about five weeks behind in the process, since senior defensive tackle Jason Chapman and senior cornerback Allen Langford were both hurt in the Ohio State game Nov. 3.

Still, all three are going through it together.

"I'm a few weeks behind, so a lot of stuff they were doing, I'm coming up (to) now," Henry said. "It's a learning process and we get through it week by week."

Thoughts of redshirting this season admittedly entered Henry's mind, but his focus is on playing, even if it means missing the first couple games.

"That's not really my plan or my goal," Henry said of redshirting. "If it comes to it, I'll take it. But I plan on being on the field this year and playing."

At this point, Henry can only do light jogging and he walks with a more noticeable limp than Chapman or Langford. But Henry hopes to be cleared to do most of the running and drills when summer conditioning starts June 9.

"That's a specific date (to shoot for)," he said. "I want to make sure I'm right physically. I know I'm going to be right mentally. And I want to make sure nothing like this occurs again."

In his first year, Henry got considerable playing time as the nickel back, then started the final two regular-season games after Langford was hurt. Henry didn't allow a touchdown pass until the 11th game against Michigan.

Now, he tries to pass along what he learned to the young cornerbacks, especially redshirt freshman Mario Goins, his roommate, who has been working with the No. 1 defense in his spot.

"You're kind of throwing them into the fire, but it's the best way for them to learn," Henry said. "After a while, they'll come through."

While Henry has absorbed a lot of blows in the last few months, the thing that never changes is his outlook. He attributes much of that to the people around him, from his grandmother and family back home, who keep him motivated, to his teammates.

But it's Henry who makes a conscious decision every day to stay positive and focus on the good things in his life.

"You have to approach life day by day and look at the good," he said. "Injury or no injury, that's just the way I am."