Family night is always an exciting event for Green Bay Packers fans, but this year’s practice featured a scary moment involving third-year wide receiver Christian Watson.
Watson was involved in a scary collision when Jordan Love attempted to find him up the seam during an 11-on-11 period. The throw ended up finding Watson, but rookie safety Evan Williams made a play to break it up.
Absolutely DISGUSTING throw by Jordan Love pic.twitter.com/ObyYkej63l
— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) August 4, 2024
It took Watson a few seconds before he was able to get up. Fortunately, it sounds like he’s fine. Head coach Matt LaFleur talked to reporters about the collision following family night.
“He’s ok,” LaFleur revealed about Watson. “He went back in there in the two minute. Scary moment, certainly…Those are the ones you worry about, the bang-bang plays down the field. I told [Williams] to just try and lay off if you can.”
Despite the brief scare at practice, Watson seems fully healthy heading into the 2024 season.
Can Christian Watson Stay Healthy?
Watson has flashed in his first two NFL seasons. However, there have been health issues that have kept him from reaching his full potential
After being taken in the second round of the 2022 draft, Watson immediately had knee surgery that forced him to miss majority of his first NFL training camp. That led to some early-season struggles before Watson caught fire in the second half of the year.
Still, Watson ended up missing three games as a rookie. Lingering hamstring issues were an even bigger issue last season. He only played nine games in 2023, and looked significantly slower and less explosive when on the field.
The hamstring issues became such a concern for the Packers that they sent Watson to University of Wisconsin to seek specialists. Those specialists discovered that he had a 20 percent difference in muscle mass between his two legs.
With that issue addressed, Watson has looked much more effective during his third Packers training camp. He even flashed at family night with a nice touchdown grab over Jaire Alexander during one-on-one reps.
As long as he can stay healthy, Watson should bring an explosive downfield element to Green Bay’s passing game.
Don’t Sleep on Romeo Doubs
For all the attention surrounding Watson, Packers fans should also keep a close eye on Romeo Doubs heading into 2024.
Like Watson, Doubs was also picked up by the Packers in the 2022 draft. He was a bit of a lesser-known prospect out of Nevada, which led to him going in the fourth round. However, he’s been a consistent target in his first two NFL seasons. He’s caught 123 catches over that span for 1,488 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Doubs is poised for a third-year leap in 2024. SI.com’s Albert Breer recently visited Packers training camp, stating that he believes Doubs is taking the biggest step forward of Green Bay’s young group of wide receivers.
Those two third-year receivers should play a big role in Green Bay’s passing game. That will allow some of the younger, second-year receivers like Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks to continue developing as NFL wideouts without having the pressure of being No. 1 targets.
All of that talent should make the Packers legitimate Super Bowl contenders this season. But don’t sleep on Doubs establishing himself as the team’s No. 1 target.
