Wisconsin will likely be without its top wide receiver for a third-straight game.

Coach Paul Chryst said senior Danny Davis was unlikely to play when the Badgers close out the regular season at Iowa on Saturday.

Davis appeared to get dinged up against Michigan on Nov. 14 and hasn’t played since, though there has been no official word on what has kept him out of action.

Prior to going out, the senior had been Wisconsin’s top option on the outside. In two games, he had three catches for 78 yards and eight carries for 69 yards with two total touchdowns. The Badgers had been counting on him, along with senior Kendric Pryor, to help lead a passing offense that lost its clear No. 1 option from a year ago in Quintez Cephus.

Pryor’s status is uncertain after he left Saturday’s loss to Indiana to be evaluated for an upper body injury. He suffered what was deemed to be an upper body injury against Michigan and missed the Northwestern loss.

Offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph confirmed Wednesday that center Kayden Lyles would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. When he went down against the Hoosiers, true freshman Tanor Bortolini replaced him. At one point this year, Rudolph said Bortolini was considered the fifth-string center, but due to injuries ended up playing the first snaps of his career.

It’s possible that Lyles’ regular backup, sophomore Cormac Sampson, will be able to go against Iowa. He missed the Indiana game, but coach Paul Chryst said he’s been able to do more each day this week.

‘Blown out of proportion’

Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz revealed after the loss to Indiana that the Hoosiers were calling out plays before the Badgers even ran them, suggesting that they had cracked the Badgers signals coming in from the sideline. In response, Mertz went over to the sideline after nearly every snap to get a new play call.

That kind of breach would seemingly lead to a change by Wisconsin moving forward, but when asked Thursday whether anything would be different, Chryst said he felt there was too much made of the situation.

“We’ve got a good plan,” Chryst said. “But I think a lot of that was blown out of proportion last week, too.”