GREEN BAY – Christian Watson was recently chatting with the Packers' strength and conditioning staff when a simple reality dawned on the fourth-year receiver.
It's good to be sore again.
"I like being just football sore and not ACL and knee sore," said Watson on Thursday. "It's been fun for me to get back to regular football, and I've been enjoying it. It's just good to be back out there."
Watson is now three games into his return from the torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered 10 months ago in the 2024 regular-season finale against Chicago.
The 26-year-old wideout has been doing a little more each week, jumping from 36 snaps during his return in Pittsburgh to 43 against Carolina and then 56 this past Monday vs. Philadelphia.
Those 56 snaps were the most Watson has played in an NFL game since a 56-play outing against the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 19, 2023. So naturally, the wideout was feeling a little sore coming out of the game.
While Watson (knee/hamstring) was listed on the injury report as a limited participant during Thursday's padded practice, the 6-foot-4, 208-pound receiver told reporters afterwards he's not injured and fully expects to play Sunday against the New York Giants.
"They just gotta do what they gotta do," said Watson regarding the Packers' injury report. "I'm good. I have no worries in terms of where I'm gonna be at for Sunday. Just precautions, I guess, for them."
Despite the lengthy layoff and no offseason program, Watson is playing like his old explosive self again. He has eight receptions for 188 yards and a robust average of 23.5 yards catch.
Watson made two strong catches in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 10-7 loss to the Eagles – a 22-yard reception to the Philadelphia 13 that was wiped out due to an illegal formation penalty and a 25-yarder on third-and-10 in the final minutes.
Of course, the play on Watson's mind after the game was a third-and-20 deep ball to the end zone in the first quarter that he wishes he could've caught while fighting off Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell in coverage.
After the game, Watson responded with a simple "Yes" to a post on X asking whether he could've caught the ball. It's one of two original X posts Watson has had in the last 13 months.
"It came down to me just not being able to get to the landmark that I wanted to get on the route," Watson said. "I kind of got pushed inside a little bit more than I would've liked to on that route. The ball was getting to where it was supposed to go but I had gotten off that landmark. That was really just the main thing."
One of the fastest players on the team with a 4.36 time in the 40, Watson assured reporters it wasn't a case of him not being fast enough to get to the deep ball from quarterback Jordan Love, adding with a smile: "I'm never getting overthrown. That was a route technicality."
All kidding aside, Watson's return has come with good timing for a Green Bay offense that's struggled to produce points in the wake of injuries to several key skill-position players, including tight end Tucker Kraft's season-ending knee injury.
The receiving corps has been banged up, too. Jayden Reed (shoulder/foot) has been on injured reserve since Week 2, and Dontayvion Wicks only recently returned after missing three games due to a calf injury.
On Monday night, the Packers were without Matthew Golden (shoulder) against the Eagles and lost Romeo Doubs (chest) in the second half. Both practiced Thursday, keeping the door open for Green Bay to have all its active receivers available in New York.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur said Golden was "definitely" close to playing against Philadelphia, but all parties involved agreed it was in the rookie first-round pick's best interest to be patient.
"I feel pretty good," Golden said. "I'm excited about being back on the field and being able to go out there and try to help the team as much as I can."
The Packers hope a healthier receiver room may help spark an offense that was humming as recently as the second half of Watson's return game against Pittsburgh three weeks ago. The Packers finished with 454 total yards in a 35-25 victory.
Despite the offense scoring just 20 points in back-to-back home losses, Watson sees potential for Green Bay to get back to producing at a high level.
The Packers' next opportunity is this Sunday against the Giants, who fired head coach Brian Daboll this week after a 2-8 start.
"We just gotta find a way to not leave those plays out there. That's the No. 1 thing," Watson said. "I think you point out just a couple plays offensively where if we would've had those, we probably would've been able to put some points on the board and made it a different ballgame. We just gotta continue to find ways to execute better."
