MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin defensive lineman James Thompson Jr. could miss the entire season after undergoing surgery for what the school described as an upper-body injury.
The injury leaves the Badgers without their most experienced defensive lineman as they prepare for their Friday night opener against Western Michigan. Thompson has started 18 games over the past two seasons.
"Now he'll be in a little bit of a different role for us this year," Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said at his Monday news conference. "I don't know that we'll have a chance to get him back."
Thompson made 11 starts last year and collected 29 tackles to lead all Wisconsin defensive linemen. He also had 5½ tackles for loss and three sacks.
That followed a 2022 season in which he started each of Wisconsin's last seven games. Thompson had two sacks and 6½ TFLs that year.
Fickell didn't officially rule Thompson out for the season but expressed pessimism about the lineman's likelihood of returning this year.
"It doesn't look like James is probably going to make it," Fickell said. "I don't know that we'll have him for the year. There's a lot of things that are still, we've got to wait and see. I don't know if it's a four- to five-month thing."
Coming off back-to-back 7-6 seasons, Wisconsin is opening the year outside the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2016.