Packers’ Christian Watson Explains Surprise Week 11 Injury Update
Naturally, for a player who has been as injury-prone as Packers receiver Christian Watson in his career, especially as he comes off the most serious injury he’s had as an NFL player–an ACL tear in January–there is going to be concern raised when his name crops up on the injury report. And Watson, after Week 10’s team-wide dud against the Eagles on Monday, was indeed on the injury report on Thursday, ahead of the Packers’ next game against the Giants.
Watson was listed as “limited” this week, with injuries to his knee and hamstring, which has pretty much been the story of his career to this point. But, he explained after practice, he’s not actually injured.
“I wouldn’t classify it an injury because I didn’t get injured. It wasn’t during the game, just feeling sore,” he said.
Christian Watson: ‘They Gotta Do What They Gotta Do’
Watson explained that Packers coaches are just seeking to be careful with him.
“I mean, they gotta do what they gotta do,” said Watson, who had two catches for 45 yards on Monday. “I definitely, if it were up to me, I am not injured, so I mean, they just gotta do what they gotta do. I am good. I have no worries in terms of where I am gonna be at for Sunday. Just precautions, I guess for them.
“I am just sore. I am still in kind of the ramp-up phase, coming back from the ACL. So, I am just sore. Got a decent amount of snaps in the game and everything. Enough to be smarter about the rep count in practice but I mean, I feel fine, confident about it.”
Christian Watson 1 of Many Limited Packers
The Packers had only one player miss practice in full on Thursday, and that was cornerback Nate Hobbs.
The full list of limited participants was, in addition to Watson: Kingsley Enagbare (knee), Matthew Golden (shoulder), Micah Parsons (pec), Zach Tom (back), Lukas Van Ness (foot), Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and Savion Williams (foot).
Packers Getting Van Ness Back
Getting Van Ness back will add some firepower to the Packers defense, as he has been out since Week 5, against the Bengals. Van Ness had 1.5 sacks when he went out, and three tackles for a loss.
Coach Matt LaFleur addressed his return before practice.
“I just think he’s a really good player. So, you always want good players out there on the field,” LaFleur said. “His versatility is something I think could give players a boost.”
Buccaneers' Emeka Egbuka reacts to fiery Baker Mayfield, Todd Bowles comments
After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 28-23 home loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, quarterback Baker Mayfield publicly stated that he felt the Tampa Bay offense lacked a "killer instinct" at Raymond James Stadium.
Head coach Todd Bowles later agreed with Mayfield's assessment. While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Tampa Bay rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was asked about Mayfield's comments.
Buccaneers don't have "divas" who will react negatively to Baker Mayfield comments
"We don't have too many divas in this locker room who think they're above the law or anything like that," Egbuka said, per the Buccaneers' website. "We know everyone has to do their one-eleventh, whoever is on the field. People took great accountability, came in [Wednesday], and had a focused, locked-in session. [We] just have to continue stacking days throughout the week to fix everything that we need to fix before Sunday's kickoff."
The Patriots seemed to have more energy, outscoring the Buccaneers 21-3 before the hosts tallied their second touchdown of the contest, cutting New England's lead to 21-16. However, neither team managed to score throughout the fourth quarter before New England's TreVeyon Henderson iced the game away with a lengthy touchdown run:
TREVEYON ICES IT
NEvsTB on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/9StEyeQPMR
— NFL (@NFL) November 9, 2025
Why Baker Mayfield wanted to "speak up" after loss to Patriots
Mayfield clearly wasn't pleased with the Buccaneers' energy coming off their Week 9 bye. On Wednesday, he was asked why he felt the need to speak up after a loss to a club that improved to 8-2.
"There's definitely a time and place for team speeches — whatever you want to call it — or calling people out, whatever it is. There is a time and place, and for us offensively, that wasn't up to our standards," Mayfield explained. "Our leaders have to be exceptional in those moments, and everybody else has to do their role, their job, whatever that is, at a very high level. That's the NFL; it's professional football. We expect people to do their job at a high level. Nobody is perfect, but when it's things you've consistently seen on tape and we've executed, you expect them to do it well."
The 6-3 Buccaneers will need to do their jobs "at a high level" when they play the Buffalo Bills (6-3) this Sunday. As of Thursday afternoon, ESPN BET had Tampa Bay as a 5.5-point road underdog.
