The Green Bay Packers are off to a 2-0 start to the 2025 season after beating the Washington Commanders 27-18 on Thursday Night Football. While quarterback Jordan Love was lights out again in the outing, the Packers lost wideout Jayden Reed in the process. Reed caught a pass in the end zone in the first quarter but landed on his shoulder, prompting him to leave the contest.
After the game, head coach Matt LaFleur revealed that Reed has a fractured collarbone and is headed to IR. He's expected to miss 6-8 weeks, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
With Reed going to miss the foreseeable future, fellow Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks is going to see an uptick in snaps and has a shot to carve out a serious role for himself in this offense.
Jayden Reed Heading to IR Means More Snaps for Dontayvion Wicks
The Packers already have Christian Watson on injured reserve with a torn ACL, so Reed going down is a blow to the WR room, highlighting the need for Wicks to step up.
Wicks is a player who has been utilized through the first two weeks. After playing 22 snaps in Week 1, that number increased to 37 in Week 2 against the Commanders. He's caught six passes (8 targets) for 74 yards, averaging 12.3 yards per reception, leading to an 80.9 overall grade on Pro Football Focus.
The Packers have Matthew Golden and Romeo Doubs as their other top WRs, but Wicks will be thrown out there more often. While Savion Williams and Malik Heath have made some plays in the first two weeks, Wicks has made more.
Through his first two seasons in Green Bay, he flashed plenty of big-play potential, amassing 996 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 78 catches.
Green Bay likes what Wicks brings to the field, and now he'll be given a chance to display that to the entire league. He has been building his rapport with Love over the last few years, and makes things easy on gameday.
Although Golden was a first-round pick in April, he logged just 24 total snaps in Weeks 1 and 2. LaFleur is still bringing the rookie along, and it shows he will lean on Wicks that much more. He knows the offense better than Golden at this point, and that's due to more reps.
Fans should expect to see more of Wicks in the coming weeks with Reed out for the foreseeable future.