The Green Bay Packers begin their three-game slate of NFC North games, which starts with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. As the push for the playoffs heats up, they got some great news from Friday's practice.
According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, wide receiver Jayden Reed practiced for the first time since Week 2, officially opening his 21-day window. Reed had collarbone and foot surgeries in September, which placed him on injured reserve.
While this is great news for the Packers and the offense, it spells some bad news for rookie receiver Matthew Golden, who hasn't been able to capitalize on the opportunities that were in front of him.
Jayden Reed's Return Is Bad News for Matthew Golden
Zach Kruse of the Packers Wire believes that Week 14 against the Chicago Bears could be the target date for Reed's return since the Packers have two games within five days. Since they don't have many practices in between those games, they would likely want to give Reed more time to ramp up.
Green Bay's passing game coordinator Jason Vrable said via Schneidman, "I think once they clear him, he’s going to be ready to roll. He’s as hungry as they come right now. It’s been difficult for him, but the foot’s great and the shoulder’s working back and he’s a dawg, so I just can’t wait to get him back out on the field."
While the team appears to be pumped, the receiver room is now loaded. Whenever Reed is officially back, it'll likely be him, Romeo Doubs, and Christian Watson as the top three receivers. That means the reps for everyone else will be reduced, and Golden could be one of the first to lose reps.
Despite being a first-round pick, Golden hasn't been able to have an impact that many others envisioned.
This season, the Texas product has 24 catches for 286 receiving yards and zero touchdowns. He's second on the team at receiver in total snaps (326), yet he hasn't gone over 50 receiving yards since Week 6 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
He missed Week 10 due to a shoulder injury, then played in 35% of the offensive snaps last week against the New York Giants. He's been limited this week in practice and is expected to play against the Vikings, but once Reed comes back, his snaps may decrease.
At the same time, Green Bay will still need to find ways to get other players, such as Savion Williams, Dontayvion Wicks, and Malik Heath, incorporated into the game, so getting into that flow will be challenging.
Reed is one of the Packers' most dynamic playmakers, which is why he'll get a bulk of the receiver reps, but that may come at the expense of Golden. Golden has played 46.6% of his snaps in the slot, which is Reed's specialty. Last year, the former Michigan State standout played 60.9% of slot snaps.
There's just one football to go around, and during Reed's IR stint, Golden didn't make it impossible to keep him on the sideline. And that could make Green Bay's decision to reduce his snaps easier.