Green Bay

Packers

Everything we’ve heard about Watson’s high-ankle sprain leads us to believe this will be a multi-week injury. This is confirmation you should not be expecting to use him in fantasy lineups this week. Dontayvion Wicks, Jayden Reed, and Romeo Doubs will all see small boosts in Watson’s absence.

Wicks’ season-high snap share came on the heels of a Christian Watson injury, but his 58 snaps were only seven fewer than Romeo Doubs (65), who led the team. Wicks led the Commanders with 13 targets against the Vikings and should see an increased role, with Watson likely to miss extended time. We should temper expectations for Wicks entering Week 5 against the Rams, but the second-year receiver has been targeted on an impressive 26.5 percent of his routes this season. He’ll have some appeal as a WR4 next week.

Per Rapoport, an MRI revealed no fracture in Watson’s ankle, but the injury could land the third-year receiver on injured reserve. Watson was carted from the field in the first half and obviously didn’t return to the field. He’s caught just five passes for 80 yards and one touchdown on the year. Dontayvion Wicks emerged to play on a season-high 58 snaps last week, and will be in line to see a busier workload while Watson is out.

Watson appeared to be in considerable pain before being carted from the field so this is technically a positive. Both the type of sprain and the severity have yet to be revealed though. The injury occurred when Watson’s foot got trapped under a defender’s body, as the latter player delivered a hit that buckled Watson’s knee inward. It appeared to be a classic eversion event.

For the second week in a row, Wilson was in something of a timeshare with Josh Jacobs. Whereas last week it was closeout mode against the Titans, this time it was from the opening whistle, continuing into comeback mode. We frankly aren’t entirely sure why, as Jacobs looked like clearly the better runner. The Pack seem extremely, overly interested in keeping Jacobs fresh. Wilson still isn’t pushing for standalone RB4 value in fantasy.

It was a day of new season highs across the board as Kraft benefitted from comeback game script after the Packers fell behind 28-0. Of course, he helped end the comeback by losing a fourth quarter fumble on a Peanut punch. The increased workload might not be as illusory as it seems with Jordan Love back under center and Christian Watson (ankle) on the shelf, but Kraft still profiles as a lower-upside TE2 heading into Week 5 against the Rams.

The eight targets were a new season high, and three more than Doubs drew combined during Jordan Love’s two-game absence. It is worth noting Christian Watson departed with an ugly second quarter ankle injury. Doubs was also tackled at the Vikings’ one-yard line late in the second quarter. Even were Watson to miss extended time, Doubs isn’t looking like a legitimate WR3 at the moment.

With Christian Watson suffering a second quarter ankle injury, Wicks nearly doubled his previous career high for targets. He, of course, was not efficient as Jordan Love struggled through the first half before being buoyed by second half comeback mode. Wicks committed a bad fourth down drop at the goal line, and was the intended target on Love’s third interception. We wouldn’t say it was a triumphant performance, but Wicks is at least obviously back in the WR4 mix after totaling just six targets during Love’s two-game injury absence. The Rams’ soft defense awaits for Week 5.

With the Packers spending the final two-plus quarters in comeback game script, Reed posted a new career high for yards. He bested his previous best total from Week 1 by a yard. Those games, of course, are Jordan Love’s only two starts of the season. The Packers threw way more than they wanted to this afternoon, but they also lost Christian Watson to a potentially severe ankle injury. With Love avoiding further injury, Reed is looking like a targets-based WR2 heading into Week 5 against the Rams’ soft defense.

It was a curious, concerning day for Jacobs, whose 13 touches were a season low. We would like to blame the pass-friendly comeback game script, but Jacobs was again rotating with Emanuel Wilson before the Vikings even raced out to a 28-0 lead. Jacobs ended up out-touching his backfield mate just 13-8 even though he spent most of the day looking like the Packers’ best skill player. Jacobs lost a shot at a late second quarter touchdown after a Matt LaFleur personal foul backed the Pack up from the one. Brutal. If Wilson is going to remain a backfield staple even after dual-threat Malik Willis returned to the bench, Jacobs is going to become a much more boom-or-bust RB2. A Rams “road trip” where Packers fans invade L.A. is on tap for Week 5.