Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur confirmed wide receiver Christian Watson will miss the rest of the 2024 season with a significant knee injury, as was reported earlier by several media outlets on Monday.
“Yeah, it’s not good. He’ll be out for the rest of the year,” LaFleur said Monday afternoon in Green Bay.
LaFleur also confirmed the injury is a torn ACL in Watson’s right knee.
Watson was injured on a non-contact play in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears. He went down while running a vertical route, was in significant pain on the field and eventually needed to be carted from the sideline back to the locker room.
Watson, who spent last offseason working diligently to fix his recurring hamstring injuries, must now face a grueling recovery from one of the worst injuries in the sport.
“I hurt for him. I hurt for our team, but more for him. Just because I know how much he’s put into this thing. You never want to see that. It’s an unfortunate part of our game. But like I told him, I know he’ll attack it the right way. He’ll handle the adversity. It’ll just be a bump in the road for him and I think he’ll come back better. That’s just how he’s built, how he’s wired. There will be good, it’s just down the road.”
LaFleur said Watson wanted to play in the season finale after getting in a limited practice on Friday. He was expected to be a snap count against the Bears but suffered the injury on his 10th snap against the Bears.
Losing Watson robs the Packers of a versatile and athletic playmaker at wide receiver ahead of Sunday’s playoff opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“It’s a big-time loss. Just his presence on the field alone,” LaFleur said. “He’s so versatile in his ability to play multiple positions. You can put him at the X, the F, the Z. You can move him all over the place. He’s got an element, in terms of his size and speed, that’s tough to replicate. There’s not many built like him around the league.”
Watson, a 2022 draft pick, will be entering the final year of his rookie contract next season.
In related news, LaFleur said receiver Romeo Doubs was back in the building on Monday after missing Sunday’s season finale against the Bears with an illness.
“He’s feeling better,” LaFleur said.