It's the last thing the Green Bay Packers need.
While Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears isn't meaningless, as the Packers can improve their playoff seeding slightly, they didn't need to play their starters.
Matt LaFleur said they would be mindful with their injured players, but Christian Watson was surprisingly active despite being listed as questionable on the final injury report. He had been dealing with a knee injury.
The Packers chose not to rest their star wide receiver for the playoffs, and it has come back to hurt them. Watson went down without contact, which is never a good sign, and was carted off the field, leaving his status uncertain.
Latest Christian Watson injury updates after being carted off vs. Bears in Week 18
Matt LaFleur isn't 'super confident' about Christian Watson's injury
Matt LaFleur provided a postgame update, and it's not great. He said he's not "super confident" when asked for an update on Watson.
LaFleur on Christian Watson’s knee: “I’m not super confident in that right now.”
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 5, 2025
Packers rule Christian Watson out for the rest of the game
The Packers have now ruled out Watson for the remainder of the game. Hopefully, it's just precautionary, but it's not a great sign. Matt LaFleur will speak to the media following the game.
Packers announce Christian Watson is questionable to return with knee injury
The Packers announced that Watson is questionable to return with a knee injury. They haven't ruled him out, which is perhaps the only positive update to come from it. They also revealed that Jordan Love is questionable after hurting his elbow, making it a potential nightmare scenario.
Watson was carted off the field.
Christian Watson being carted to #Packers locker room. pic.twitter.com/lYurgW6s3S
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) January 5, 2025
The Packers can't afford to lose Watson ahead of a playoff run. We saw last week against the Minnesota Vikings how badly they missed his ability to stretch defenses and force them to respect the deep pass. Losing him for the first round of the postseason would be a huge loss for this team.
In last year's 48-32 wild-card win over the Dallas Cowboys, Watson only had one catch but made a significant impact, consistently drawing multiple defenders into his coverage, which opened things up for Romeo Doubs to have a career day.
Hopefully, the Packers will provide a positive update on Watson.
This is a developing story and will be updated.