The Green Bay Packers announced on Saturday that they have activated receiver Christian Watson from the physically unable to perform list. That gives the team much-needed breathing room at the receiver position going into their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the lack of an elevation of a practice squad receiver probably means that rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden is going to play, too.
On Friday, here was what the Packers’ receiver depth chart looked like:
- Romeo Doubs
- Christian Watson (PUP, questionable)
- Jayden Reed (IR, out)
- Matthew Golden (questionable)
- Dontayvion Wicks (out)
- Malik Heath
- Savion Williams
There’s no doubt in my mind
that, despite Watson being activated, he will be on a pitch count on Sunday night because it’s his first game back from his ACL tear. So if Golden, who is still listed as questionable by the team after suffering a hip injury on Friday, doesn’t play, the Packers would only have four receivers on their gameday roster — with two of those, Watson and Williams, not being able to play a full share of snaps.
If you’re reading between the lines here, Golden is going to play against the Steelers. There’s just no way the Packers could get out of a game otherwise. Already, sixth receiver Malik Heath will probably get a good amount of snaps on Sunday, even with Watson and Golden in the mix.
In other news, the Packers released tight end Ben Sims, who only contributed on special teams as a kickoff return blocker this year, to make room for the addition of Watson on the 53-man roster. Interestingly, Green Bay still carries two kickers on its active roster going into the game, a possible sign that Brandon McManus will need to wait another week for his return.
Green Bay also elevated defensive end Arron Mosby, mostly a special teams contributor, to the gameday roster from the practice squad. Last week, Mosby played 13 special teams reps and no defensive snaps, despite Lukas Van Ness being out of the lineup.
