Why Are Packers’ Hamstrung by Hamstrings?

The Green Bay Packers are dealing with more hamstring injuries than any team in the NFL. Is there a larger issue that coach Matt LaFleur has to consider?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On the NFL’s league-wide injury report, 24 players were listed due to hamstring issues. Three of them play receiver for the Green Bay Packers.

Big-play standout Christian Watson didn’t practice all week and will not play on Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Fellow starter Romeo Doubs returned to practice on Thursday following a two-week absence; he is questionable but appears on track to play. Rookie Dontayvion Wicks missed a couple weeks with a hamstring injury, as well, before returning to practice this week. He will be available for Sunday.

If the Packers have to go to the bullpen to bolster their ranks, coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst might decide to elevate Bo Melton from the practice squad. Melton missed the final two preseason games due to – you guessed it – a hamstring injury.

Of the eight receivers on the Packers’ payroll, four have or had hamstring injuries. For sake of comparison, the NFL’s other 31 teams have four players on their Week 1 injury report due to hamstring maladies.

Why? Is there a larger issue beyond pure coincidence?

“I think any time you have injuries, specifically soft tissue, that’s something that always sparks a conversation and you have to do a little digging on,” LaFleur said after Friday’s practice. “So, that’s something we’ll look at.”

Interestingly, LaFleur isn’t in a great hurry to have that conversation. Asked if that “digging” for answers had begun, he replied: “That will be more towards when we start to put our schedule and plan in place for next offseason.”

If the practice routine is a long-term concern, getting his young receiver corps back to full speed is a short-term issue.

In the case of Doubs being on the field against the Bears, LaFleur will have to weigh the risk vs. reward before turning in his inactives list at 1:55 p.m. Sunday.

Clearly, given the abundance of youth at the position, the Packers could use Doubs in an important NFC North matchup to start the season. Not only is he a starter and one of the team’s best players, he is one of only three receivers on the team who’ve played in a regular-season game. Plus, he seems to have the strongest rapport of any receiver with first-year starter Jordan Love.

“He looked really good,” LaFleur said of Doubs’ Friday practice. That answer seemed more coy than genuine excitement. Asked if Doubs had cut it loose this week, LaFleur repeated the same answer.

Watson missed three games over a five-game span last season due to a hamstring injury. His explosiveness is elite and impossible to replace. He had four touchdowns of 39-plus yards last year; the longest of Doubs’ 42 catches last year went for just 26 yards.

Is there long-term concern from LaFleur – not just for Sunday against Chicago and next Sunday against Atlanta but that this could be an ongoing issue?

“I think everything factors into it,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, somebody’s past history plays a factor into the whole, how you treat them. But he’s been a pretty-quick recovery guy in the past. So, we’re just going to take his deal day to day.”

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It's official: Christian Watson is out for the #Packers. Here's the updated injury story.https://t.co/e000xsbCSl

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 8, 2023

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