Acme Packing Company
Yesterday, Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson was not on the Packers’ injury report at all, making it the first time that he wasn’t on the injury report since he returned from his ACL tear. Well, maybe Green Bay’s practice estimations were a little too ambitious for their Wednesday walkthrough, because on Thursday, the first of their two full practices this week, Watson was downgraded to a limited participant.
Not only was he on the injury report with a knee injury, like he has been all season thus far, but the team added a hamstring designation on Watson. Notably, Watson has had plenty of hamstring issues throughout his NFL career, leading him to visit with NFL-funded specialists to solve “imbalance issues in his legs” after the 2023 season.
In the locker room after practice, though, Watson assured the press that he’s going to be healthy enough to play against the New York Giants this weekend.
The only member of the Packers’ 53-man roster who didn’t practice today was cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee), which was expected. Hobbs was reportedly set to miss multiple weeks with an MCL sprain that was caught after Green Bay’s loss to the Carolina Panthers earlier this month. Since the Panthers game, he hasn’t practiced with the team.
The only change in status, beyond to Watson, for the players who were limited on Thursday was that defensive end Lukas Van Ness, who has been out since injuring his foot late in the win against the Cincinnati Bengals, returned to practice today. Prior to this, he had not practiced with the team in over a month.
Both of Green Bay’s starting linebackers, Quay Walker (calf) and Edgerrin Cooper (foot) both went from estimated limited participants in the Packers’ walkthrough yesterday to full participants today, so those injuries don’t appear to be lingering.
It doesn’t look like starting quarterback Jaxson Dart is going to quickly advance through the concussion protocol this week. Go ahead and assume that it’s going to be Jameis Winston under center for the Giants on Sunday.
