The Green Bay Packers have been preparing this week for their season opener against the Chicago Bears. Unfortunately, they won’t be fully healthy when taking the field on Sunday afternoon.
The Packers announced on Friday that wide receiver Christian Watson will be sidelined for Week 1 because of a hamstring injury. Watson had sat out every day of practice this week and didn’t look to be participating much on Friday; he did some stretching but didn’t take the field with his teammates.
This is brutal news as Jordan Love will be without his No. 1 receiver in his first appearance as the new starting quarterback in Green Bay. Watson popped up on the injury report Wednesday with the injury and evidently, it was bad enough that he won’t be able to suit up.
According to head coach Matt LaFleur, this will be a week-to-week ailment for Watson to work through. That certainly isn’t encouraging as we may not see the North Dakota State product on the field any time soon.
Making matters worse for the Packers’ offense is that their presumed No. 2 wideout, Romeo Doubs, is also questionable for the game. He too is dealing with a hamstring injury, but he was able to get limited practices in on Thursday and Friday.
With Watson sidelined and Doubs banged up, the Packers could turn to rookie Jayden Reed as their go-to receiver on Sunday afternoon. Rookie tight end Luke Musgrave should have a huge role in the passing offense as well. Undrafted free agent Malik Heath could be active and have a package of plays drawn up for him as the replacement for Watson.
The wide receiver duo are the only players with injury designation on the Packers heading into the game against the Bears. Rookie wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks, left tackle David Bakhtiari, edge rusher Rashan Gary and safety Anthony Johnson Jr. were all listed on the injury report throughout the week but don’t carry a game status designation. Presumably, they will all be available and in the lineup.
