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Luke Fickell sets the record straight on QB Billy Edwards' injury recovery, timeline

Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell clarified his confusing comments about injured quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. as he works toward returning to the starting lineup.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell talks with injured quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. (9) during the fourth quarter of the game Saturday, September 6, 2025 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat Middle Tennessee 42-10.
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell talks with injured quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. (9) during the fourth quarter of the game Saturday, September 6, 2025 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat Middle Tennessee 42-10. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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After the Wisconsin Badgers' 37-0 loss to Iowa on Saturday, Luke Fickell made some comments about Billy Edwards Jr. in his post-game press conference that left some confusion about the quarterback's status.

He said he checked with the injured quarterback about his status during the fourth quarter, and Fickell talked about the possibility of Edwards playing at less than 100 percent health the way Hawkeyes QB Mark Gronowski did on Saturday.

It raised some questions about what Fickell's message was to his quarterback, and the head coach felt the need to provide clarification on Monday, without being asked directly about it.

"I don't have any questions on Billy of any sorts. I was not trying to make any point like that," Fickell said. "We want Billy to be 100 percent or as close to 100 percent in order to be able to protect himself, and at some point in time, that's going to fall on the shoulders of him as well."

Edwards started the opening game of the season against Miami (OH) before leaving with a knee injury.

He returned to start Week 4 against his former team, the Maryland Terrapins, but he exited the game after six plays when he appeared to reaggravate the same injury.

"That was a mistake on my part because I told you guys, I've got to save Billy from himself," Fickell said. "My job to continue to do is to save Billy from himself again, so that that when we do get him back, we have him back for what we would feel like is the duration of the year."

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Edwards has participated in practice in recent weeks, and the team had optimism that he would be able to return sooner than he has.

The language Fickell uses has gotten less and less confident in Edwards' prognosis over the past few weeks, leaving less certainty about when he could take the field again.

"We would love to have him out there," Fickell said. "But we also put ourselves in that position a few weeks ago that probably… I'm not saying set us back, but probably set him back a little bit."

In Edwards' place, the Badgers have turned to backup Danny O'Neil and third-stringer Hunter Simmons as starters.

Neither has been a consistent quarterback for Wisconsin this season, and the head coach indicated the two will continue to compete at practice to see who will be under center this Saturday as No. 1 ranked Ohio State comes to town.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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