Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson has missed the last four games due to an ongoing hamstring problem. He also missed the first three games due to a similar injury concern.
With Watson’s current status listed as questionable, will Watson play today against the Chicago Bears? What is the latest news concerning his hamstring injury? And, if he is to play against the Bears today, what is Watson’s potential fantasy football outlook?
Is Christian Watson Going To Play Week 18?
Watson comes into this game having missed the last month or so with a hamstring injury. There was optimism that Watson would play as he returned to practice on Wednesday and Thursday, albeit in a limited capacity.
However, on Friday, disaster struck as Watson did not practice. This is never a good sign for a player who is recovering from injury. It could be a setback. Or it could be rest.
Rob Demovsky of ESPN provided an update on Friday when he posed the question to Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. He posted on social media platform X, “Matt LaFleur said of Watson: ‘We felt he had two good days of practice and wanted to give him today and we’ll see where he’s at on Sunday.'”
He then went on to post a quote from Watson himself. He quoted Watson as saying, “To kind of give me the best chance to go on Sunday was to rest a little bit today and make sure that I do everything to take care of my body and put myself in the best position to hopefully play on Sunday.”
Therefore, it seems the Packers, who need to win to secure a place in the NFC Wild Card picture, will be looking to try to get Watson on the field on Sunday. Fantasy managers should follow the PFN player tracker for all the news before the Packers kick off in the late window.
What Is Watson’s Potential Fantasy Outlook for Today?
Watson comes into this week as the WR61 and has only gone three games over 10 fantasy points all season. While he has missed seven games, hitting the 10-point mark or above just 33% of the time is not an excellent return for fantasy managers. Not to mention, one of those times, he scored 10.1 fantasy points.
Watson is currently the WR54 on the week, according to our PFN Consensus Rankings. And with Jayden Reed trending in the right direction to play, I would not want to risk Watson in a championship lineup this week.
While the Packers will likely try to get him out onto the field, they will limit him and the number of routes he runs, as they have done most of the season when he returned from injury.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
Green Bay has essentially coped most of the season without Watson. The hope in sitting him would be to get healthier for the playoffs next week should the Packers get in.
Therefore, fantasy managers should bench Watson for this week and look at alternative options. This is not the week to gamble on Watson. And, based on his 2023 production, the upside just isn’t there to even gamble on.
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