The Green Bay Packers activated Christian Watson from the physically unable to perform list on Saturday, and the receiver could make his season debut on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They released tight end Ben Sims to make room for Watson on the 53-man roster. DE Arron Mosby was also elevated from the practice squad.
If Watson takes the field, he will do so 294 days after he tore the ACL in his right knee in last year’s regular-season finale. That would make Watson one of the quickest Packers players to return from that injury in recent history.
Their last two players who sustained that injury, defensive end Rashan Gary and offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins, did not play until 308 and 302 days after their injuries, respectively.
All throughout Watson’s recovery, the Packers have said he was ahead of their typical ACL return timeline. He returned to practice on Oct. 6. The Packers used their entire three-week practice window before adding Watson to the roster.
“I’d say I could’ve played last week, too, to be honest,” Watson said “But, obviously, got to make sure I’m hearing everybody’s opinions on everything and being as smart as possible about it.”
In 38 career games over his first three seasons, Watson has 98 catches for 1,653 yards with 14 touchdowns. His average yards per catch (16.9) ranked third in the league entering this season among all players with at least 75 catches since the start of the 2022 season, when Watson joined the Packers as a second-round pick.
In addition to be a deep threat, he might be the Packers most versatile receiver.
“What he brings [in] size [and] speed element, it just gives us so much flexibility as an offense, because you can plug and play him in any position, and you can do it within a game, you know, within a series,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And he just doesn’t blink at it. And there’s very few guys that I know that can go in and play the X [position], the Y or the X, the F or the Z.”
Rather than waiting until after the season and test free agency, Watson signed a one-year, $11 million contract extension last month. It contained a $6.067 million signing bonus and keeps him under contract with the Packers through the 2026 season.
