Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson said he is ahead of schedule in his return from last year’s season-ending knee injury but doesn’t have a timetable or target for his return to practice.
“I’m trying not to think too far ahead,” Watson said on Wednesday at Packers training camp. “Once I feel like I’m 100 percent, I’m going to tell them I feel like I’m ready to go, and then whenever they let me go, I’m going.”
There are certain aspects in which Watson does feel 100 percent after tearing his ACL in Week 18 against the Bears. He’s full speed running in a straight line, which he did with a trainer on the sideline at Wednesday’s practice. He’s been cutting and running routes, just not at full speed.
“I’m letting the training staff and the strength staff tell me what I got that day,” Watson said. “I’m trying not to look too far ahead because then I’m going to want to push for more and more; just how my mind works. What do I got today? But it’s been feeling good doing the route stuff that I’ve been doing so far. I’m just trying to get better each and every day.”
Injuries have been a common theme to Watson’s career. Last season, however, he stayed mostly healthy. After missing one game with a knee injury, he was back on the field for the finale against the Bears. On his 10th snap, Watson went down while running a route.
Was he thinking, “Why me?” in the moment?
“I’d say it crossed my mind, for sure, but it’s just life,” he said. “I know that there’s way worse situations that I could be dealing with and getting to play at the highest level and having to deal with some stuff that happens to be a part of the game. It’s a tough sport, a lot on the body, but I’m just grateful for where I’m at regardless of the situation, appreciative of that. I always kind of fall back on that and embracing God’s plan.”
That mind-set helped Watson stay upbeat during a difficult moment in his career and the ups and downs of the last several months.
“With the circumstances – I was already dealing with something – and then I go out there and then that happens,” Watson said. “Obviously, we’re trying to make a Super Bowl run and I go down [and was] not able to be out there with my team. Obviously, the thought of I know this is going to carry into the next year, that was definitely tough right away, but I try to turn the page as quickly as possible, embrace my circumstances and just move on. That’s always been my mentality with stuff. Just how it’s been.”
As Watson talked on Wednesday, it was seven months and one day after the injury. When Stefon Diggs stepped on the field for the first practice of Patriots training camp last month, it was almost nine months after he tore his ACL against the Colts.
They connected during their rehab.
“I’ve just tried to run my own race with it but I talked to Stefon Diggs about his recovery process,” Watson said. “I trained down in Davie (Fla.) with the same people he was rehabbing with and I know that went really well, so kind of talked to him when I first got in the process because, obviously, it was going really smooth for him. So, I kind of picked his brain a little bit but, aside from that, I’ve really just been running my own race.”
Watson is racing into the final season of his rookie contract. He caught only 29 passes and scored just two touchdowns in 15 games last year, but he did set career highs with 620 receiving yards and 21.4 yards per catch. From that perspective, the timing of the injury could hardly have been worse. Not only did it knock him out of the team’s postseason, it’s lingering into this season and will impact what he puts on the field.
Mental toughness, however, helped Watson get to where he is today.
“It’s definitely tough,” Watson said. “Anytime you have an injury like this, it’s definitely going to take its toll on you. I mean, regardless of when or how it happens. It’s just a tough situation to be in. But I’ve gone through a lot of adversity. Nothing like this, but I feel like I was calloused for it a little bit and I had the right mentality going into it and it’s been keeping that the whole way through.”
