Packers once again without WR Christian Watson; IR a possibility
By Paul Bretl
Christian Watson left Sunday’s game against New York with a hamstring injury and missed the entire week of practice. He has now been ruled out of Sunday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and the Jets.
On Wednesday, Matt LaFleur told reporters that Watson suffered the injury when he got “tugged” by a defender on a route.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first injury that Watson has had to deal with this season. He missed the Packers’ Week 3 matchup with a hamstring injury, and as you may recall, he missed a large portion of training camp recovering from minor offseason knee surgery.
On Friday, LaFleur did say that the team has discussed shutting Watson down for some time to allow this recurring injury to heal. That would, of course, mean placing Watson on IR, where he would have to miss at least four weeks.
"“Yeah, I think that’s certainly on the table,” said LaFleur via Packers Wire when asked about shutting down Watson. “We’ll see where he’s at. They are still doing some testing with him,” coach Matt LaFleur said Friday."
Watson’s role in the Packers’ offense has been relatively small. After playing 40 snaps in Week 1, Watson has averaged just under 20 snaps over his last three games per PFF ($$). One would think that all of this missed time during his rookie season is playing a factor in his limited role to begin the season.
Watson possesses elite speed but has primarily been used as a motion man, getting his touches on jet sweeps or in the quick passing game. His average depth of target is just 6.5 yards, and even that number is inflated by a few downfield pass attempts in Week 1. Many of Watson’s touches come behind the line of scrimmage.
Ultimatley, Watson needs to be utilized in more ways, specifically as a downfield threat, which is an element this Packers offense is missing. With opponents not as fearful of getting beat over the top, it is providing them with the opportunity to crowd the line of scrimmage, making it more difficult to run the ball or to lean on the quick passing game.
However, with that said, Watson’s speed, coupled with defenses being very mindful of him getting touches behind the line of scrimmage does help create running lanes for the backs along with misdirection opportunities–something we’ve seen the Packers take advantage of this season.
With Watson now out, the Packers could activate rookie Samori Toure on gameday, although my guess is that the more likely option is they elevate Juwann Winfree from the practice squad once again.
However, something to be mindful of with this move is that this would be Winfree’s third and final elevation of the season. If the Packers want him available in future weeks (as in beyond Week 6), he would have to be added to the 53-man roster, per the NFL’s 2022 practice squad elevation rules.
If Watson does end up heading to IR, this would give the Packers some flexibility with Winfree, as they could sign him to the roster for the time being with the open roster spot that would be created.
This season, Watson has caught seven of 11 passes at 7.4 yards per catch. He also has three rush attempts for 19 yards with a touchdown and has been a willing blocker, as is customary at the Packers wide receiver position.