Sunday's loss to the Denver Broncos could not have gone much worse for the Green Bay Packers, who lost star pass rusher Micah Parsons (torn left ACL) for the season and saw wide receiver Christian Watson exit the game in the third quarter with a chest injury.
Watson has had a whirlwind of a week, going from a positive update on Monday to a much bleaker outlook on Tuesday with head coach Matt LaFleur saying they will give him until game time to determine his availability. While that would potentially give rookie wideout Matthew Golden, who is coming off one of his best games of the season with three catches for 55 yards, a chance at the WR1 role or an expanded workload, ESPN's Rob Demovsky's latest update on Wednesday from LaFleur suggests otherwise with Watson expected to practice on a limited basis.
"He's improving," LaFleur said. "We'll just see how he's feeling out there." That obviously does not guarantee that Watson is going to suit up for Saturday night's crucial game against the Chicago Bears, but it does get in the way of Golden being game planned as a top option as Watson receives some of the reps that he otherwise would not have if he was still sidelined.
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That is not to say that Golden will be a non factor in the game against the Bears with first-place on the line in the NFC North, but it does put a chance to see an uptick in his performance on hold.
It is no secret that Golden has had mixed results this season, largely due to wrist and shoulder injuries and the game plan not being centered around him, but his performance against the Broncos was his best since he went for a season-high 86 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6. Assuming Watson plays, any continuation of that breakout may not happen at all, given he has an average of 17.2 yards per reception with 481 yards and five TDs in eight games, including 89 yards and two TD catches in the win over Chicago on Dec. 7.
Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) also returned to practice on Wednesday, which makes the receiving corps even more crowed for someone like Golden who has mostly been forgotten about when Green Bay is fully healthy at WR. Between Romeo Doubs (578 yards, five TDs), Watson, Wicks (313 yards, two TDs) and Jayden Reed (131 yards, one TD), there are plenty targets for quarterback Jordan Love down the field and each of them, except Reed, have more targets than Golden as well. Reed has only appeared in four games all season after dealing with a fractured collarbone, or he would most likely have more targets, too.
Golden's rookie troubles so far are by no means a red flag for the Packers, especially considering the potential he has showed multiple times when he been a bigger part of the offense. However, with Watson and Wicks returning to practice and potentially playing on Saturday, any chance Golden had at building off his Week 15 showing may have to take a backseat if his usage during the entire season is any indication.