Christian Watson turned one of Thursday night’s wildest moments into a gutsy finish for the Packers.
The Green Bay wideout left Lambeau Field for the hospital after taking a chest injury in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers, then somehow made it back to the stadium and rejoined the game. By the time the Packers finished off a 27-19 win, Watson had added two more catches to a night that ended with team highs of eight receptions and 113 receiving yards, helping Green Bay move to 5-3.
The injury came on a 53-yard catch with 9:11 left in the second quarter, and Watson later explained that the scene was more alarming than it looked from the stands or on the broadcast.
"I was spitting up some blood or something like that, so the doctor said I had to go get a CT," Watson explained. "I was trying to beg him to not make me do that.
I got a rib, that’s all, but the other stuff was good. No internal bleeding, nothing like that."
Watson said he believed the damage happened when he came down on the ball or on his elbow during the play. He was listed as questionable after being taken to the hospital, and even then he was already thinking about getting back on the field.
"Before I even left [the hospital], I wanted to go back out there," Watson said. "This means everything to me, to be out there on the football field. I’ve had injuries I was not able to go on the field for, and I’ve missed significant time due to injuries, so any chance I get to go out there on the football field, I’m going to be out there on the football field."
Packers safety Xavier McKinney called the comeback an "incredible" story and said Watson’s decision to return said plenty about him.
"I think it shows resiliency, I think it shows toughness and I think it just shows the love that he has for this team," McKinney said about Watson. "He had his 100 yards [before the injury], and he could've just sat it. But the fact that he wasn't satisfied and the fact that he felt like and he knew that we still needed him out there and he still said, 'OK, I love this team, and I want to be able to go out here for this team and do that,' that gains our respect."
Head coach Matt LaFleur was just as impressed by the way Watson pushed through it.
"The grit to go back in the game," Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said about Watson. "He had a heck of a night. I can't imagine what he would have had, had he not missed so much time."
Green Bay now gets extra time before its next game at the New England Patriots on Nov. 8, and while it’s too early on Oct. 30 to know Watson’s status for that one, Thursday night suggested he’ll be pushing to play.
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