GREEN BAY, Wis. – For the Green Bay Packers, there will be no excuses for not taking care of business against the Chicago Bears on Sunday and clinching their spot in the playoffs. That’s because the Jordan Love-led passing game could be at full strength.
Receivers Jayden Reed, Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks are questionable, as is tight end Luke Musgrave. All four are trending toward playing for the win-and-in showdown against their longtime rivals.
Reed, Wicks and Musgrave capped perfect 3-for-3 practice weeks on Friday. Watson didn’t practice on Friday after what coach Matt LaFleur labeled “two good days of practice.”
Said Watson: “It’s still kind of a tough thing to come back from and you’ve got to try to tempo things up and build it up. Obviously, I went kind of hard the first two days.”
Reed, the team leader with 60 receptions and 10 total touchdowns, was inactive two weeks ago against Carolina with a toe injury, then sat out the second half last week against Minnesota after sustaining a chest injury.
Wicks, who is third on the team with 33 receptions and first with nine forced missed tackles after catches, suffered a chest injury against Carolina, which sidelined him for the second half of that game as well as last week vs. the Vikings.
Musgrave, who is tied with Wicks for third on the team in receptions, suffered a lacerated kidney against the Chargers and missed the last six games. However, coach Matt LaFleur and Musgrave spoke optimistically about Musgrave’s return for this game.
“I want to play. Definitely want to play,” Musgrave said. “But we’re going to take it day-by-day and see.”
The question mark is Watson. The team’s big-play threat missed the last four games with a hamstring injury. Even while missing seven of 16 games, he’s fourth on the team with 422 receiving yards and third with five touchdowns.
Watson, who was filled with confidence on Wednesday, did not practice on Friday. That was part of the plan after two good days, LaFleur said. How he feels on Saturday and Sunday will determine whether he’s on the field.
Through 10 games, Musgrave caught 33 passes for 341 yards. Bubba Franks holds the franchise rookie tight end records with 34 receptions for 363 yards. So, Musgrave was on pace to obliterate those marks.l
Can he pick up where he left off after having catches of 25 yards against the Rams and 36 yards against the Steelers before the injury
Never mind records, though. First and foremost, player safety ultimately will determine whether Musgrave will play this week against the Bears. Another part will be Musgrave’s confidence that he can, for example, extend his arms into the air and make a catch without fear.
“I don’t know if you can think too deeply on it,” he said. “It’s gotten better and I think when I go back out there, it’ll be safe to do so. Definitely try not to think about it.”
After the injury, when Musgrave was stuck at home, he started taking online flight-school classes.
“I’ve always liked planes,” he said, “so I’m definitely really excited for it. I’ve been trying to make the most of the time that I’ve been away but I’m ready to play football again.”
