Wisconsin was without arguably its top player on each side of the ball for the majority of Saturday’s 35-17 loss to No. 3 Alabama.

Safety Michael Caputo went down on the third play with a head injury, which saw him walk to the wrong huddle. To make matters worse, Corey Clement was apparently dealing with a groin injury that nobody knew about. He only mustered 16 yards on eight carries and spent most of the second half on the sideline.

On Monday, Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst addressed the status of his two star players.

Caputo is going through concussion protocol and will be evaluated later in the week before he’s cleared to play against Miami (OH).

Chryst was asked how hard it was to keep the senior captain on the sideline, despite his desire to get back into the game.

“It was interesting, and it just shows you, you talk about a guy that truly cares about this team, and the players on the team,” Chryst said. “And it didn’t matter what — I noticed him during special teams, I noticed him on offensive series, I noticed him on defense; he had the grease board out. I mean, he will do anything for this team.”

Chryst said that he doesn’t feel Clement’s injury will linger and that he should be good to go for Saturday, barring a setback.

Admittedly, Chryst didn’t realize how limited Clement’s usage was.

“And Corey, I think he could have gone a little bit more possibly, but wasn’t sure of it,” Chryst said. “I think I was surprised to look and see, Taiwan (Deal) had the exact same number of snaps, or maybe one off from Corey.”

The Badgers might not need either to take care of Miami at Camp Randall on Saturday. Still, they wouldn’t mind the All-Big Ten candidates to return to form in non-conference play.