Baun feels fit after workouts
Linebacker healthy again after scare
MADISON – Wisconsin’s Zack Baun was cruising this spring.
After missing the 2017 season because of a broken left foot, Baun made it past the halfway point of spring practice without incident.
Then came the morning of April 6, UW’s ninth practice.
Baun, who had been working with the first-team defense at outside linebacker, limped off to the side inside the McClain Center and was immediately met by a member of the training staff.
His left foot didn’t feel right. “I thought it was over,” Baun said this week. “As soon as it happened, you think the worst and hope for the best.” Baun caught a break, pun intended. X-rays revealed Baun had not suffered another break. Rather, he had aggravated the area in which a screw had been inserted during surgery to repair the original break.
That screw had been removed during a second surgery, shortly after the Orange Bowl.
“They checked the measurements between the bones and they weren’t displaced (much),” Baun explained. “I just tweaked it. Sometimes you have to get into uncomfortable situations to get used to it.”
Baun, a graduate of Brown Deer High School, has rediscovered his comfort zone.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound redshirt junior participated in all summer workouts without experiencing any issues.
Andrew Van Ginkel, Baun and Tyler Johnson opened camp Thursday as the top three outside linebackers and Baun appeared to move well.
“I feel as strong as I’ve ever been,” Baun said. “My foot feels great.”
Blaming Baun for getting a bit impatient would be unfair.
After redshirting in 2015, he sat behind T.J. Watt, Vince Biegel and Garret Dooley in 2016.
“When I got here I had to wait and learn everything my redshirt year,” Baun said.
“And then I had to wait even longer because of the guys in front of me. So I just filled my role on special teams. I was fine with that.”
The 2017 season was supposed to provide Baun the opportunity to display his game.
Then came the injury suffered during a late-August scrimmage.
“Last year was supposed to be the big reveal,” he said. “It takes a big chunk out of you. People don’t talk about it enough, how much it affects you mentally.
“I knew my foot was going to heal. I knew I was going to be back 100%. I’ve seen (others) go through it.
“I knew I had the training staff and the medical staff there for my recovery. But it was just getting over that mental hump and the struggles.”
Baun had to use a scooter designed to keep his foot off the ground for eight weeks after the initial surgery. Then came four more weeks on crutches. Then came three more weeks in a protective boot.
Then came the scare in the spring.
Inside linebacker T.J. Edwards, a close friend of Baun’s, expects to see a playmaker in 2018.
“He is a very explosive guy,” Edwards said. “He is very fast. I’m really interested to see how Zack handles this new role. He’s got to prove to the team, just like all of us, that he is ready for this year and ready for the big moments.
“I’m excited to see what he can do.” So is Baun. Asked if he understood some observers question whether UW will be able to replace the productivity of Leon Jacobs (60 tackles, 91⁄2 for loss) and Dooley (41 tackles, 12 for loss), Baun smiled.
“Didn’t we have questions last year?” he said. “Didn’t people have questions the year before? How long do we have to do this until we (realize) it is the system?
“How long is it going to be until that question doesn’t come up anymore?”