Packers suffer huge blow on offense ahead of playoffs as star receiver suffers knee injury

Green Bay Packers and quarterback Jordan Love lost a big weapon in the team’s 24-22 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Star wide receiver Christian Watson tore his ACL and suffered additional damage to his knee, ending his season and putting the start of next season in doubt, according to the NFL Network.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed the news Monday, saying Watson will be out for the rest of the year.

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Watson, 25, was running a route in the second quarter, then collapsed to the ground grabbing his knee, injuring himself on a non-contact play.

LaFleur talked about what the loss of Watson means for the offense.

“Yeah, it’s a big loss, just his presence on the field. He’s so versatile in his ability to play multiple positions. You can put him at X, F, Z, you can move him all over the place. “Obviously he has an element in terms of size and speed that’s hard to replicate. There aren’t many like him in the league and I just feel bad for him,” LaFleur said. during his press conference on Monday.

“Obviously it hurts for our team, but also just more for him, just because I know how much he puts into this thing, and like all of our guys, you never want to see that, and it’s an unfortunate part of our game.”

Watson was questionable with a knee injury early in Week 18, but LaFleur said the knee he injured in the game was actually the other knee that didn’t bother him.

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LaFleur said he is confident in how Watson will attack his rehab.

“But like I told him, I know he will attack the right way, he will handle adversity, it will just be a bump in the road for him and I think he will come back better. It’s just how it’s built, how it’s wired, and so I think it’s going to be good, it’s just going to be later,” LaFleur said.

Watson is in his third season after being drafted in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of North Dakota State.

This season, Watson has 29 catches for 620 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games. The deep threat is second in the NFL in average yards per reception, averaging 21.4 yards per reception.

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The Packers finished the season 11-6 and are the No. 7 seed in the NFC. They will face the No. 2 seed Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the Wild Card round.

Without Watson, the Packers will rely on receivers Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks and Malik Heath to replace them.

The Packers and Eagles play Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

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