Wisconsin WR Quintez Cephus showcases strong red-zone presence during Friday’s practice

MADISON — Rain hit south central Wisconsin through Friday morning, so the Wisconsin Badgers completed their 14th practice inside the McClain Center.

We mentioned earlier this week that junior wide receiver Quintez Cephus has stood out lately, and on Friday he hauled in two “touchdowns” during team red-zone work. Both were on Alex Hornibrook throws, the first being a back-shoulder toss that the Georgia native reeled in against decent coverage from cornerback Caesar Williams. After the reception, Cephus flashed some confidence with a hint of a staredown against the redshirt sophomore defensive back.

Cephus later caught another touchdown near the corner of the end zone against what appeared to be true freshman cornerback Rachad Wildgoose.

Injury list

Safety Eric Burrell (left leg) was added to the list and designated as limited, with fellow safety Patrick Johnson out due to a head injury. Left tackle Jon Dietzen was moved to “out” from “limited” due to his right leg injury. Not on the injury list on Thursday, fullback Alec Ingold (right leg) also was designated by UW as “out” for Friday.

Inside linebacker T.J. Edwards (right leg) was upgraded to “limited” and did practice (more below). Wide receiver A.J. Taylor did not have a boot on his left foot for the second consecutive day and ran some drills (including planting/cutting on his foot) during the session in workout clothes.

Observations

• With the red-zone work, I thought Hornibrook looked solid once again.
• Here’s how I saw the reps at offensive line go, from left tackle to right tackle: Cole Van Lanen, Michael Deiter, Tyler Biadasz, Jason Erdmann/Micah Kapoi/Josh Seltzner, David Edwards/Logan Bruss.
• One variation of a reserve offensive line included, from LT to RT: Tyler Beach, Kapoi, Erdmann, Seltzner, Bruss.
• As mentioned above, T.J. Edwards received some first-team work in what appeared to be 7-on-7 and modified team drills.
• Wide receiver Kendric Pryor reeled in a nice reception on a deep pass during an early portion of practice.

• There has been a lot of talk about cornerbacks recently, especially after defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s comments on Thursday. Regarding combinations I saw on Friday, Deron Harrell and Williams received time as “first-team” cornerbacks during some red-zone work, with the Wisconsin State Journal’s Jason Galloway also noting Faion Hicks saw some time with the ones. Regarding redshirt sophomore Dontye Carriere-Williams, one combination I saw with him included working with Donte Burton and Madison Cone during a nickel subpackage in what looked like the second-team or reserves.
• With Burrell limited on Friday, I saw Seth Currens, Reggie Pearson, and Evan Bondoc as the “third” safety in a package that was seen against a larger personnel (think multi-tight end sets). Last year, we saw Burrell step into that role against Iowa.