The Green Bay Packers Should Have Aaron Jones And Christian Watson Against The Detroit Lions

The Green Bay Packers have not had their full contingent of offensive skill players this season.

That’s expected to change tonight, though, when the Packers host the Detroit Lions.

Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones and speedy, second-year wideout Christian Watson — who have both been battling hamstring injuries — are each expected to play, according to NFL Network.

Jones had 127 total yards and two touchdowns in Green Bay’s Week 1 win at Chicago. On the second of those scores — a 35-yard touchdown reception where Jones whipped linebacker T.J. Edwards on a choice route — Jones slowed down just shy of the goal line and immediately reached for his hamstring.

Jones hasn’t played since, but his return would give Green Bay’s ground game a huge lift. The Packers currently rank just 23^rd in the league with 90.3 rushing yards per game and 26^th with 3.4 yards per carry.

“That would be huge,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said of getting Jones back. “That would be very good for our offense. He’s a huge playmaker.

“You saw Week 1, just getting him the ball ends up in a good play most of the time, so it’s going to be huge just for everybody, just help out. He’s going to be a big playmaker for us and probably just make the offense be a little more explosive when he’s out there.”

Watson has yet to play this season after suffering his hamstring injury one week before the Packers’ season-opener in Chicago. Watson let it slip, though, earlier this week that he’d likely suit up against Detroit.

“There was no date for me,” Watson said. “It was just as soon as I was feeling like I could go out there and be Christian Watson was when I was going to go out there.”

Jones and Watson are undoubtedly Green Bay’s top two playmakers.

Jones ranks No. 3 in franchise history in rushing yards (5,325), behind only Ahman Green (8,322) and Jim Taylor (8,207). Jones also ranks fourth in team history in rushing touchdowns with 44, trailing only Taylor (81), Green (54) and Paul Hornung (50).

Among running backs with 850-plus career carries, Jones ranks No. 4 in league history with an average of 5.10 yards per carry. In addition, Jones — along with Cleveland’s Jim Brown (1957-62) and Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson (2007-12) — are the only players in NFL history to post 5,000-plus rushing yards, 60-plus scrimmage TDs and average 5.0-plus yards per carry in their first six seasons.

Watson, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.28 seconds coming out of North Dakota State, had nine touchdowns during his 2022 rookie season.

Watson battled injuries early on last season and had just 10 receptions for 88 yards and zero touchdowns through nine games. Watson erupted over the final eight games, though, with 31 catches for 523 yards (16.9 average) and eight total TDs.

The Packers let veterans Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb walk this offseason so Watson — and others — could take on a bigger role.

Now, Watson appears ready to help in that department, while Jones should provide a huge lift to the backfield.

“I think it would be huge,” Watson said earlier this week about him and Jones returning. “Obviously, I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself. I think we’ve been doing some really good things in the wide receiver room. To be able to add another element to that and another element for the offense would be huge for us.”