The Green Bay Packers will be without Christian Watson against the New York Giants. Watson has been ruled out on the final injury report as he deals with a hamstring injury suffered against Kansas City.
Watson sustained the injury late in the Chiefs’ game while trying to stay in bounds in order to keep the clock running. He did not practice at all this week. This past week when meeting with reporters, Watson said that he did not believe this hamstring injury is as severe as the one he was working through at the beginning of the season that kept him out for three games. He is currently taking things day-by-day.
After a slow start to the season, Watson had hit his stride the last two weeks. During that span against two of the NFL’s best teams, Watson totaled 12 receptions for 165 yards with three touchdowns.
“Obviously, Christian is a big part of our offense and he’s really hit his groove,” said LaFleur on Saturday. “That’s obviously not great because it took him a minute to get going within our system this year. It’s a shame and he made so many great plays the last few weeks.”
There is no fully replacing Watson’s speed or downfield potential, but offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich mentioned on Friday that attempting to absorb his absence would likely be a by-committee approach. One of several things that this Packers offense has going for it right now is that on any given play, the ball can go to a number of different targets, not allowing the defense to key in on a single player or two. Against the Chiefs, 10 different players had at least one target.
“I feel great about the other guys,” added LaFleur. “I think they’ve really developed and we’ve got a lot of guys that we can move in different spots that can help pick up for that loss. When one guy is not there it’s an opportunity for the rest of that group and I think those guys are ready for that challenge.”
As we’ve seen in recent weeks, having a run game to lean on can take some of the burden off the passing game by setting up play-action – which Jordan Love has been very efficient off of – and in general, opportunities in the passing game, specifically downfield. The Giants are allowing nearly 5.0 yards per carry this season.
For the third time in four games, the Packers will once again be going up against a blitz-heavy defense. Los Angeles blitzed Love on nearly 61 percent of his dropbacks, while the Chiefs ranked sixth in blitz rate. In both instances, the Packers offense held up well. For more on Green Bay’s improved play against the blitz and the upcoming matchup, click here.
Under defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, the Giants rank second in blitz rate, but if the Packers can give Love some time, the opportunity to find success in the passing game should be there against a secondary allowing 6.7 yards per pass, which for context, ranks in the bottom-third of the NFL—although this defense has been able to force eight interceptions in just the last three games.
“You never feel easy going against a team that he’s (Wink Martindale) coaching because you know that he can deploy a number of different blitzes and a number of different looks,” said LaFleur. “I’m certain coming off a bye week that there’s going to be something different that they haven’t put on tape, that’s typically the case, and our guys are really going to have to trust their rules in terms of preparing for that.”
Without Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Malik Heath will handle to workload at receiver. We may also see the Packers elevate Bo Melton off the practice squad for added depth and to help out on special teams.
