With Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson returning to practice, it’s on the Pack to be as careful as possible with him.

Back in 2024, it finally seemed like Watson was finally getting over his injuries, ready to contribute to a playoff team and ready to enter an offseason without any concerns. 

Then in the final game of the 2024 season, Watson suffers a non-contact injury while running a route against the Chicago Bears.

Ultimately, it was a torn ACL.

It forced Watson to go back on the shelf, and watch his brothers go to war without him in the playoffs. It was a quick watch though, as the Packers fell to the Super Bowl winning Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round.

Though, the fourth year receiver may be running out of chances in the NFL if his bill of health remains scathed.

Even from his rookie season, Watson suffered injury after injury.

Leading up to the start of the season, he had a minor knee procedure that forced him to miss a few games to start. 

That same season, he suffered a concussion.

In 2023, he battled through lingering hamstring injury issues that only saw him playing nine games all season.

And then in 2024, the ACL injury that ultimately ruled him out until further notice.

After doing individual drills in a practice this week, Watson laid out a plan for when it’s time to return to the gridiron full time.

"Honestly, my goal for coming back to play is whenever I feel like I've put in the work enough and I'm confident after getting the team reps, getting the live reps and there are no setbacks. I want to get back and have felt 100 percent and continue to feel 100 percent. That's my main thing. I'm not setting too much of a target date, this week or anything. It's really just as soon as I feel like I'm 100 percent and ready to go is when I'll play.”

The eagerness is there, and it has to be contagious for his teammates. When he was getting interviewed by the press after his practice drills, there was no one happier than fellow receiver Malik Heath.

In Matt Schneidman’s article in The Athletic, he started off painting a picture of the excitement in the locker room.

“Malik Heath climbed a stool outside a scrum of reporters surrounding fellow wideout Christian Watson inside the locker room on Monday. He pretended to hold a camera filming Watson, then waved his hands to grab Watson’s attention while he answered questions. Watson noticed Heath, broke into a wide smile and later teased Heath for not asking him an actual question. ‘He back y’all,’ Heath said as he crashed the interview.”

But despite the excitement all around, the Packers need to play it safe.

Currently, they are in a weird spot after tying with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. But it’s not like they desperately need Watson this instant. 

They need him at full health where he can run a go-route and not get winded afterwards. They need him to be able to take a hit and fans won’t have to hold their breaths every time he falls awkwardly, or takes a bad hit.

They need him to be the best Christian Watson that he can be, and the Packers can afford to wait for him to get to that point.