Tag: christian watson

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur confirmed that wide receiver Christian Watson will avoid landing on injured reserve after suffering a frightening-looking ankle injury during Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Packers feel fortunate the prognosis wasn’t worse on Watson’s injury.

“Just talking to him today, we got lucky. We dodged a real bullet there. Because that looked pretty ugly,” LaFleur said Wednesday. “He’s definitely in good spirits and he’s going to do whatever he can to get back as soon as he can.”

On Monday, LaFleur said Watson will miss “a week or so,” and avoiding injured reserve suggests the team thinks he’ll be back within the four-week window.

Watson had his left foot trapped under a defender while falling backward on a pass thrown his direction in the first half against the Vikings. He left the field under his own power but was eventually carted back to the locker room for evaluation.

Watson didn’t practice Wednesday.

Going on injured reserve would have cost Watson games against the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead, he’ll likely miss Sunday in Los Angeles and then be day to day from there.

Expect Dontayvion Wicks, who dropped two passes but also caught two touchdowns in an up-and-down performance last week, to take on most of Watson’s snaps in his absence.

Watson has five catches on eight targets for 80 yards and a touchdown through four games in 2024. He was on the field for 46 percent of the Packers’ offensive snaps through Week 4.

The Packers are still gathering information on Devonte Wyatt’s ankle injury but are hopeful he will also avoid injured reserve. Wyatt didn’t practice Wednesday.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson has a high-ankle sprain, will miss multiple weeks moving forward and could land on injured reserve, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Watson suffered the left ankle injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. On a contested throw, Watson got his leg trapped under a defender as he fell to the ground backwards — creating the injury mechanism.

Watson was able to walk off the field under his own power, but after an evaluation in the blue medical tent, the Packers carted him from the sideline to the locker room.

The good news is this isn’t a soft-tissue injury. Watson worked all offseason to fix a muscle imbalance in his legs and help prevent hamstring and other soft-tissue issues in his lower body. The bad news is injuries like this can’t be avoided in a physical contact sport like football. If Watson didn’t have bad injury luck, he’d have no injury luck at all. He will miss games for the third straight season to start his NFL career and could be headed for injured reserve for the second straight season.

Going on short-term injured reserve would require missing at least four games. The Packers play the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars over the next four weeks. Matt LaFleur’s team is five games away from the Week 10 bye, so it’s possible a Week 11 return against the Chicago Bears is a target.

Without Watson available on Sunday, the Packers leaned more on second-year receiver Dontayvion Wicks, who shook off a few early missed opportunities to catch a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes. Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed would continue in starting roles, with Bo Melton or Malik Heath possibly receiving more snaps in four-receiver sets.

If Watson goes on injured reserve, a roster spot would open. The Packers have three receivers on the practice squad, but with five others currently on the 53-man roster, adding a sixth receiver might not be necessary.

Watson has five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown over four games in 2024. He was injured on his one and only target of Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.

Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson was carted from the sideline to the locker room after suffering an ankle injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s showdown with the Minnesota Vikings.

Watson was injured while attempting to make a catch on third down. He was bent backward awkwardly with his left leg and ankle trapped underneath him.

Watson walked off the field and was evaluated in the blue medical tent. The Packers then carted him to the locker room for further evaluation. He is listed as questionable to return.

Jordan Love’s pass intended for Watson was intercepted on the play. The Vikings ended the first quarter with a 14-0 lead and possession of the football.

Watson has five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown over the first three games of the 2024 season.

Due to hamstring injuries, Watson missed 10 games last season.

Packers Wire will update this as more information becomes available.

If Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson finished the 2024 season with 1,200 yards and double digits touchdowns, it would come as little surprise to those familiar with the tools and upside he possesses. But in order to achieve those numbers, Watson would have to remain healthy, a feat that has eluded the talented pass catcher now entering his third season.

“That’s been my goal all along, but it hasn’t worked out for me in the past,” Watson said following Monday’s practice.

Standing at 6-4 and weighing 208 pounds, Watson grabbed the attention of Green Bay’s scouting department when he ran a 4.36 in the forty and logged a 38.5-inch vertical at the 2022 NFL combine. Ultimately, it was these freakish traits and the playmaking he showed at North Dakota State that convinced the Packers to trade up to select him 34^th overall.

Yet, Watson’s biggest hurdle in his first two seasons hasn’t been adjusting to NFL talent or learning the preferences of two different quarterbacks. Instead, it’s been overcoming soft tissue injuries that have cost him 11 games.

After this past season, in which he sat out eight games with two separate strains to his right hamstring, the team and Watson wanted answers.

So, this offseason Watson went to the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health to find them. After eight hours of testing, it was learned that Watson was experiencing asymmetry in the level of strength in each of his legs. In other words, right hamstring was weaker than his left.

Right away, making sure both legs had equal levels of strength became Watson’s top priority. So far, the results have been encouraging.

Watson had 100% attendance at training camp, making a flurry of head turning plays along the way. The intensity will obviously ramp up when Green Bay flies to Brazil to face the Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener on Friday, but Watson enters Year 3 with newfound optimism.

“I want to play 100% of the games, I want to play 100% of the practices,” he said. “I’m right where I want to be.”

Talk of Green Bay’s number one wide receiver could make Matt LaFleur lose his lunch, but there’s no denying who has the highest ceiling in the team’s deep receiver room.

It’s been said by both the coaches and players that the Packers’ offense is undeniably more dangerous when Watson is on the field. No other receiver poses the threat of taking the top off the defense and making a high-pointing catch over a number one corner the way he does. Unfortunately, we’ve only been able to catch glimpses.

Whether this is a make-or-break year for Watson is up for debate, but it’s undeniably crucial. For the Packers to chase their Super Bowl aspirations, they may need a healthy Watson to unlock his true potential.