Packers' Christian Watson expects to make his season debut Sunday at Pittsburgh

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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — While so much of the focus of Sunday's prime-time matchup between Green Bay and Pittsburgh has been on Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers facing his former team, Christian Watson plans on it being a special night for him, too.

The Packers wide receiver expects to return to game action for the first time in nearly 10 months.

“That’s my plan,” Watson said after Wednesday’s practice. “I say it every week — obviously just leaving it up to the trainers — but my goal and my plan is to play this week.”

If his plan comes to fruition, it will mark Watson’s first game action since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the Packers’ Jan. 5 regular-season finale against the Chicago Bears.

The Packers opened Watson’s 21-day practice window on Oct. 6, when they returned from their bye week, shortly after signing him to a one-year extension that includes $11 million in new money and keeps him under contract with the Packers for next season, alleviating concerns he might have had about trying to rush back to game action and earn a new contract.

The team could wait until after Sunday night’s game to activate him from the physically unable to perform list. Watson, whose in-practice workload has steadily increased over the past two weeks, believes his surgically repaired knee is ready.

In fact, the 2022 second-round pick believes his knee has been ready. Watson was listed as a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice,

“I’d say I could’ve played last week, too, to be honest,” Watson said of the Packers’ 27-23 win at Arizona on Sunday. “But, obviously, (I’ve) got to make sure I’m hearing everybody’s opinions on everything and being as smart as possible about it.”

There’s no question that Watson brings a different dimension to the Packers’ offense.

He finished last season with 29 receptions for a career-high 620 yards and two touchdowns, with his 21.4-yard per-catch average leading the team and ranking second in the NFL.

With rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden having emerged in recent weeks, Watson’s return would give the Packers two wide receivers with elite speed to stretch defenses and open up other aspects of the offense.

“(That’s) a lot of speed, man,” said Golden, who has caught seven passes for 123 yards over the past two games. “I’m excited for him coming back. Definitely going to open up a lot of things.

“I’ve watched him work each and every day to get back where he is now. I’m excited for him. I’m ready to see him go.”

The final call on whether Watson is ready to go will be made by the medical staff, of course. And while the Steelers’ home field at Acrisure Stadium has drawn criticism from players in recent weeks, Watson insisted that the field conditions shouldn't matter in his comeback.

“When I’m at 100 percent, obviously, in years past, I wasn’t thinking about the surfaces,” Watson said. “If I’m worried about the turf, then honestly, I probably wouldn’t be playing, anyway. My goal is to feel 100 percent, so that’s not really something that we’re thinking about.”

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