Packers receiver Christian Watson missed eight games last year due to hamstring injuries. The Packers are trying to keep that from happening again.
Coach Matt LaFleur explained this week that Watson visited a lab in Madison, with the goal of solving the issue.
“They’ve got some special lab there or whatever that all the medical guys can give you the better diagnosis on [Watson],” LaFleur said, via Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “But yeah, we’ve looked at a lot of different things in terms of just his body comp and maybe areas that were stronger than others to try to help get us in front of that.”
When he plays, Watson is extremely effective. The goal is to have him available for every possible game.
“We’re trying to look at everything we can do to mitigate those risks,” LaFleur said, regarding Watson’s injuries. “I know [Watson] is working his tail off right now down in Florida, trying to make sure that he comes in the best shape possible. Certainly, we looked at elements of the things that we can control because, I mean, soft-tissue injuries happen in our sport. It’s like, how can we mitigate those? And that’s what we’ve looked at, you know, from him personally to what we’re asking of our players from a load perspective, whether it’s in training or practice.”
Watson had 28 catches for 422 yards and five touchdowns in 2023, his second NFL season. No Packers receiver gained more than 793 receiving yards in 2023; the leader with that number was rookie Jayden Reed.
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