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• • • •
"
T
hat's the fact of the matter," Stave said
about getting healthy as quickly as pos-
sible. "I felt pretty good for most of the
spring. If I can get myself 100 percent for the fall,
that's the ultimate goal."
During his last extended action of the spring,
Stave admitted, "I had one throw where someone
ran into my arm as I was releasing it and that didn't
feel very good."
Stave grimaced when he returned to the huddle
and it didn't go unnoticed by Andersen, who later
approached Stave about shutting it down last week.
"I think he knows it's best," Andersen said.
After watching Saturday's scrimmage from the
sideline, Stave said, "It's obviously not ideal (being a
spectator in a quarterback competition). But that's
the way it was today. I have to deal with it."
Stave said the immediate plan was "to take it easy
for a week or so and then get back into it." If he can
start throwing again within a few weeks, he's confi-
dent that he will be full-go in June.
Could he have thrown last Saturday? "I could
have," he said. How much would it have hurt? "Not
too bad," he replied. "But I've just got to be patient
and let it heal. Now is not the time to throw."
On whether he's patient by nature, he said, "In
some things. I'm definitely more laid back and a
calmer kind of person. That being said, I'm a com-
petitor and I'd like to start throwing as soon as I
can."
Stave also considers himself to be a realist, espe-
cially regarding his shoulder.
"I know that it may never be back 100 percent
to the way it was just because that's how AC joints
are," he rationalized. "But there's no reason that you
can't continue to play with it."
And that would be true, he said, whether he was
still feeling pain or not. Andersen has frequently
mentioned Stave's toughness. But has he been tough
to a fault? Has he hid the pain?
"I don't know," Stave said. "I think there's a dif-
ference between being hurt and injured. Everybody
plays football hurt. It's a physical game.
"People are going to get banged up and you're
going to be bruised and hurt. Injured is something
when you can't truly play. Or, if you're playing, you're
doing more damage than it's worth."
Because of his shoulder injury, Stave didn't play in the
Badgers' spring game.
DAVID
STLUKA
