Christian Watson: Will He Actually Be Ready to Play In September?

[Pokerbrat2000]

I knew that Watson was ahead of schedule on coming back from his torn ACL, but WOW! I didn't expect him to come back THIS fast! According to his Instagram post he is "running routes, cutting and hitting pretty close to full speed."

He still has 2+ months before the first real game in Sept. If he can be ready that quick, it sure makes the competition for the WR spots even more competitive than it already was.

Christian Watson's Latest Injury Update Puts Packers WRs on Notice

The Green Bay Packers made moves this offseason to bolster the offensive side of the ball and give Jordan Love more options in the passing game. After years of

dairylandexpress.com

 

[Thirteen Below]

Boy, that makes me uncomfortable. Less than 6 months??? That's extremely unusual. Considering how injury-prone he is, it seems like a really risky decision.

But then again, it may also mean that his injury was not as severe as some of us feared. Not every torn ACL is the same; there are degrees of severity. So that would probably bode well for a full recovery, wouldn't it?

 

[El Guapo]

Except for Adrian Peterson, nobody comes back from a knee tear and has a good season. Even if Watson can come back early, why? He's most likely not going to have a big year. I'd rather let the doctors run this show, get him some snaps later in the season, and get him ready for 2026.

 

[OldSchool101]

Except for Adrian Peterson, nobody comes back from a knee tear and has a good season. Even if Watson can come back early, why? He's most likely not going to have a big year. I'd rather let the doctors run this show, get him some snaps later in the season, and get him ready for 2026.

Jordy Nelson 2016 season.
He did have 1 year off, but he likely had a more severe tear than Watson also. His 2016 season was arguably not just a good season, but his career best. There’s something motivating about an injury like that which can call a player to he 100% focused. It does happen.

 

[OldSchool101]

Another good point that comes out of this. Most of the GB WR of yesterday popped hard in Year 3 or 4 as a starter.
Donald Driver across his first 3 seasons? 520 yards total.
4th season? 1,063 yards

Davante Adams year 1-2 combined
927 yards— Year 3 he puts up 997 yards

Jordy Nelson
Rookie-336 yards
2nd-320 yards
3rd-522yards
4th? 1,263 yards

Greg Jennings
Rookie-632 yards
2nd season- 920 yards
3rd seadon…1,292 yards

Randall Cobb average across years 1-3 was 587 yards. Year 4? 1,287 yards

We now have
Wicks in Year 3
Watson year 4
Doubs in year 4
Reed in year 3

While there’s no guarantees in life. It’s highly likely 1 or more of that group has a notable pop in production

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Except for Adrian Peterson, nobody comes back from a knee tear and has a good season. Even if Watson can come back early, why? He's most likely not going to have a big year. I'd rather let the doctors run this show, get him some snaps later in the season, and get him ready for 2026.

Given that Christian Watson is in the final year of his rookie contract, I imagine he has some extra incentive to do whatever he can do get on that field and prove himself worthy of a big contract, if not in GB, somewhere else.

If Watson doesn't play more than half the season and it takes awhile for him to get back in the groove with Jordan and Co., the Packers may let him walk or at best, offer him a 1 year, low end, prove it deal. Same with the rest of the league.

If Watson comes back from injury early and has a breakout season, it could mean $15M+ more dollars/year, on a long term deal with the Packers or another team.

This is a HUGE year for Watson, Doubs, Tom, Quay & Rasheed Walker, Rhyan, and Enagbare. All of them being in the final year of their contract. I guess it is for Davante Wyatt too, although the Packers exercised his 5th year option, keeping him in GB through 2026, this might be the season that gets him a new deal.

 

[Voyageur]

Boy, that makes me uncomfortable. Less than 6 months??? That's extremely unusual. Considering how injury-prone he is, it seems like a really risky decision.

But then again, it may also mean that his injury was not as severe as some of us feared. Not every torn ACL is the same; there are degrees of severity. So that would probably bode well for a full recovery, wouldn't it?

Agreed. It could have been a partial tear. But, coming back that early is very risky even if that's the case. He needs time to regain that lost strength and it's a slow ramp up of recovery. While in college, when my son had his first ACL injury it happened his freshman year in game 7 and he was out and not ready until game 7 the following year but red shirted to complete the recovery process. But even then, he went back, and it was another ACL tear on the same knee in game 4. End of college football. The rebuild was two surgeries long this time.

Like he said, you could fake it that you were ready but inside you knew the strength wasn't there. It took over a year before the strength was actually back and another several months pushing himself to make him competitive. After the second injury, he was still getting it back to full strength when he graduated from college.

 

[Pkrjones]

Considering Watson has a hammy history I'd hope the coaches & trainers would be conservative in bringing him back. Happy that the ACL is doing well, but he also needs to strengthen & stretch the hammies to minimize lost time for pulls, imho.

 

[OldSchool101]

I agree. We’re not trying to derail his career by holding him out. I’d prefer the team shoot for an October return date. It’ll give him that extra 4-6 weeks and allow us time to figure out the WR room situation.

 

[Thirteen Below]

I agree. We’re not trying to derail his career by holding him out. I’d prefer the team shoot for an October return date. It’ll give him that extra 4-6 weeks and allow us time to figure out the WR room situation.

And that many more snaps for the kids, give 'em a little bit more room to grow.

 

[El Guapo]

Considering Watson has a hammy history I'd hope the coaches & trainers would be conservative in bringing him back. Happy that the ACL is doing well, but he also needs to strengthen & stretch the hammies to minimize lost time for pulls, imho.

I agree 100%. This is not the player to push back early, or allow himself to push for an early return. The Packers of almost no reason to push him back early.