The Green Bay Packers Won’t Have Aaron Jones Or Christian Watson Today

Speed kills.

Unless that swiftness is grounded.

It appears that will be the case for the Green Bay Packers Sunday.

Wideout Christian Watson and running back Aaron Jones will reportedly be sidelined with hamstring injuries when Green Bay travels to Atlanta.

For the Packers, playing without their most explosive running back and dynamic receiver will be a monumental challenge.

Jones had 127 total yards and two touchdowns last week in Green Bay’s 38-20 win at Chicago. The Packers led, 10-6, at halftime before Jones had a pair of third quarter TDs that put the Packers in control.

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 did not practice all week and was listed as questionable on the injury report. With Jones sidelined, A.J. Dillon is expected to be Green Bay’s primary ball carrier.

“We’re going to give him through the course of the week before we make any determination on him,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday.

Watson missed the Packers’ Week 1 win in Chicago with his hamstring injury. Watson did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week, then was limited Friday. It appears the Packers don’t feel Watson is ready, though, to face Atlanta.

Without Watson last week, first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love targeted eight different players and completed passes to six.

Second-year man Romeo Doubs led the way with four receptions and two touchdowns, while rookie tight end Luke Musgrave caught three passes for 50 yards.

“Just have to move on to the next guy,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “That’s the thing about the NFL, you talk about it with the players, everyone’s got to be ready because at some point during the season your opportunity’s going to get called on and we’ve just got to be ready to go no matter who’s in there.

“We may not have some things if Aaron Jones isn’t playing, obviously, but we may have others for other guys. It’s just balancing it out and always trying to get the ball to your best playmakers.”

There’s no doubt Jones and Watson are 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.

Instead, Watson will reportedly be sidelined for a second straight game. And much to the Packers’ chagrin, Jones appears set to join him.