Matt LaFleur Confirms The Worst For Receiver After In-Game Injury
The Green Bay Packers had another strong victory in Week 2, as they took down the Washington Commanders in a 27-18 win at Lambeau Field.
Amid what were good displays on both sides of the ball, came what looked like a nasty injury to wide receiver, Jayden Reed, who clutched his shoulder in pain after landing on it as he hauled in a touchdown from Jordan Love; a touchdown that was ultimately called back for a holding penalty on rookie, Anthony Belton.
Reed’s right arm was seen in a sling, per reports, as he did not return to the game.
And it seems as if injury that the Packers and fans were hoping it would not be has, sadly, come to pass, as head coach, Matt LaFleur, revealed on Thursday night after the game that Reed had broken his collarbone.
https://x.com/packers/status/1966350925590597636
“He’s gonna miss a lot of time, unfortunately,” La Fleur said when asked about an update for Reed, “He broke his collarbone, so he’ll be down for quite some time. We’ll see how fast he can recover and heal. Certainly I would expect him back at some point this season.”
Ian Rapoport reports that the exact figure could, on the optimistic end, look like a 6-8 eight week layoff, allowing Reed to come back for second half of the regular season.
https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1966355005042208908
How Will This Impact The Packers’ Offense Moving Forward?
In his presser, LaFleur emphasized how Reed would be missed on the field and in the huddle.
“Obviously it’s a big blow to us,” LaFleur continued, “He’s a guy who’s a catalyst for our offense, and our football team quite frankly. The energy he brings; he’s a dawg. He comes out there and he’s gonna compete, and he plays tough, physical. And he’s a playmaker.”
Despite this, the Packers’ seventh year head coach remains content with the Packers’ offensive options, even with Reed having gone down.
“Fortunately for us, I feel like we have a pretty deep wide receiver room and there’s gonna be opportunities there for other guys to step up and take advantage of.”
Who Will Be The Main Candidates To Take Reed’s Place?
As alluded to by LaFleur, the receiving corps is strong enough in Green Bay to weather the storm of an injury like this.
Dontayvion Wicks is the obvious candidate to come into the starting lineup, after catching 4 passes for 44 yards – more than any other wide receiver on Thursday.
Rookie third round pick, Savion Williams, could also be a candidate to get more offensive snaps alongside 2025 first round pick, Matthew Golden, and fourth year wideout, Romeo Doubs, having shown his explosiveness with two strong rushing plays on the ground.
But the candidate the team will be most excited for is the return of Christian Watson, who could be back with the team and ready for action as early as October, although he will not be available for the Packers in the immediate future.
For now, GB can remain happy with their performance tonight, and they can figure out who the next man up will be on offense over the coming days.
Gauff Reveals the Pressure of Serena Comparisons After Winning Her First Major
Coco Gauff is one of the poster girls for American tennis, and when bursting onto the scene, she drew comparisons with Serena Williams.
At 15, Gauff stunned the tennis world by beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon.
It was the first chapter of a story that is still being written, and six years later, the American performer has been rewarded for her hard work with two Grand Slam titles.
Gauff’s game has been compared to that of Serena’s previously, and when she managed to win her maiden Grand Slam aged 21.
Venus is also a huge fan of Gauff, and perhaps the defeat to her at Wimbledon in 2019 was the moment she realised that there was a new wave of youngsters coming through to knock her off her perch.
Being compared to such legendary figures is never easy, however, and one comparison with Serena really got Gauff’s back up.
The comparison to Serena Williams that Coco Gauff didn’t like
To be compared to such a stalwart of tennis and an iconic figure is tough going for any player.
When Gauff won the US Open by beating Aryna Sabalenka in 2023, clearly she felt a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
The youngster had already lost to Iga Swiatek in the 2022 French Open final and people were starting to speculate over whether she’d win her first one at a younger age than Serena won her first.
It was a comparison unappreciated by Gauff, who felt it pressured her too much.
She said in her post-match interview: “It’s been difficult. I mean, it’s been a long journey to this point. I wasn’t a fully developed player, and I still think I have a lot of development to go. I think people were putting a lot of pressure on me to win. I felt that at 15, I had to win a slam at 15. I think that was, you know, not the mistake, because everything led to this moment, so there were no mistakes.
“But that was, like, a little bit of the pressure that I was feeling. Now I just realise that I just need to go out there and try my best. I mean, it was to the point where I remember I lost when I was 17, and there was a stat, they were like, Oh, she’s not going to win a slam before Serena’s age. It was stuff like that that I felt like I had a time limit on when I should win one, and if I won one after a certain age, it wouldn’t be an achievement.
“Yeah, it’s just crazy the amount of things that I have heard or seen about myself, but I’m really happy with how I’ve been able to manage it all.”
Serena comparisons unhelpful to Gauff
Williams was superhuman, and it feels very unlikely that any woman on the tour right now will get close to her haul of 23 major titles.
With that in mind, it’s harsh that Gauff had to carry around these comparisons in the early stages of her career and to a certain extent, even now
Gauff is currently out of the spotlight, working on some changes to her game, and as a two-time Grand Slam winner, she deserves the chance to forge her own path to glory.
Gauff is very much the women’s player from the United States who could dominate in the future, but it won’t be at the same level as Williams did and those keen to compare should realise that.
