The Green Bay Packers may have dodged a bullet with second-year wide receiver Christian Watson. According to ESPN's Rob Demovsky, tests on Watson's knee came back clean, and he has a shot to play as early as Sunday, against the Minnesota Vikings.

Watson got injured on the second to last offensive play of the Packers during the loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday, when he adjusted to receive a pass from Jordan Love.

"I'm just trying to get the initial pain and stuff out of there, and I think I'll be good to go," Watson said.

Christian Watson missed the first three games of the season with a hamstring injury. Over the three games he's played, Watson hasn't come close to the production he had in the second half of last season, but he's still an important piece of the Packers offense. Watson has had eight catches for 143 yards and one touchdown combining the games against the Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders, and Denver Broncos. The Packers, however, were 0-3 in this sequence of games.

The Packers have more concerning pieces of news for the offensive side of the ball. Tight end Luke Musgrave hurt his ankle on the play that got Broncos safety Kareem Jackson suspended. His status, according to Rob Demovsky, remains unclear.

On Sunday, against the Broncos, the offense had everyone available, except for left tackle David Bakhtiari — he’s out for the remainder of the season because of the knee injury he suffered in 2020 and still lingers.

The Packers offense is 12th in EPA/play this season, but the unit has gone through a shaky moment. Over the last month, the team is 21st in EPA/play. The offense has been particularly poor in the first halves, failing to score more than 10 points in any game and getting shut out twice — including against the Broncos, who entered the game on Sunday as the worst defense in football by DVOA.

Rookie production

Even with limited volume, Christian Watson was extremely productive last season, totalling 41 receptions for 611 yards. He was the rookie with the most receiving yards and touchdowns in the Aaron Rodgers era for the Packers.

Watson averaged 9.3 yards per target and 2.26 yards per route run. To put these numbers in perspective, only five other rookie receivers have had at least nine yards per target and two yards per route run since 2019: Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Terry McLaurin, A.J. Brown, and Deebo Samuel. During a stretch in 2022, he became the first rookie wide receiver to score eight total touchdowns in a four-game span since Randy Moss in 1998.

All those numbers, though, are based on big plays and an unsustainable number of touchdowns if compared to his volume. This year, the expectation was that Watson could keep the efficiency even elevating his volume. But he's been unable to get more volume for multiple reasons — injuries and Jordan Love's issues with deep throws are the most notable.

Even with all the problems and questions, Christian Watson is still a big part of the Packers offense. He's the most explosive wide receiver and the most important deep threat, so his ability to run deep is imperative for himself, but also to open up the underneath areas of the field for his teammates.

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