Guard Dietzen moving well.
MADISON – Joe Rudolph, Wisconsin offensive coordinator/line coach, saw the difference immediately.
Redshirt sophomore left guard Jon Dietzen felt the difference.
When UW opened camp earlier this week and the linemen began going through drills, Rudolph watched Dietzen’s feet closely.
Dietzen, who sat out all of spring ball after undergoing surgery on his problematic right ankle, was moving better than he ever had at UW.
“I’ve got more mobility in the ankle,” Dietzen, who has worked with the No. 1 unit so far in camp, said after practice Tuesday. "I can move more efficiently. Instead of coming off my heel I was able to use my full ankle. “It is huge.” Dietzen played well in the opener against LSU last year after starter Micah Kapoi was injured and got his first start the next week, at home against Akron.
He injured his right ankle against the Zips, however, and sat out the next four games. He returned to action at Iowa and then started the final seven games but was never fully healthy.
“I was pretty much fighting through it the whole rest of the stretch,” said Dietzen, who missed time in camp as a freshman after suffering a sprained right ankle. “I was pretty much spraining it all the time. It was tough, but it is something you’ve got to fight through.
“Once the season was done we thought it was the best idea to let spring ball go if it means I can come back healthy for camp. And I did. I am happy with the decision.”
Dietzen had a limp in the spring but was finally able to run full-speed during summer workouts in June.
“That’s when I really was able to cut it loose,” he said. “It’s basically like I have a different ankle now.”
Time to move on: If you can’t understand why nose tackle Jeremy Patterson wasn’t placed on the 105-player camp roster and has decided to transfer, you haven’t been listening to defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield.
Breckterfield made it clear last summer and again in the spring that Patterson needed to get his weight down to the mid-330s in order to be able to play. Patterson, who weighed in the low 350s in the spring, never came close to that mark.
“It is on him,” Breckterfield said before camp when asked about Patterson. “He’s got to figure it out. Period. He’s just got to figure it out.
“If he does, he could be the guy. If he doesn’t, he is limiting himself.”
From the infirmary: Wide receiver Deron Harrell (left shoulder) and safety Scott Nelson (left leg) were held out for the second consecutive day. Inside linebacker Griffin Grady (illness) did not practice Tuesday.
Extra points: Kicker Rafael Gaglianone, who missed UW’s final 10 games last season because of a back injury that required surgery, appears to be striking the ball without any discomfort so far in camp.