Green Bay wide receiver Christian Watson is slowly making his way back on to the field as he recovers from an ACL injury.
How did it feel being out there in practice?
I mean, it felt great. Obviously I was super anxious to just be able to get back to some football. It meant a lot to me to be able to get back out there, for sure.
When did you learn you’d be practicing?
I think it was always the plan. Obviously it kind of was just going along with how I was feeling, and it’s been feeling really good, so obviously I got that opportunity.
Are you able to run all your routes with no limitations?
One hundred percent. Obviously I gotta knock a little bit of rust off. Been a while since I was able to go out there and play football. I mean from confidence in just running everything, it felt really good. Just excited to continue to build off of that.
If it were up to you, would you play Sunday?
Yeah, I always want to play. But at the end of the day, obviously, I want to be as smart as possible, too. So if you were to ask me that on Friday after I got a couple good work days in then probably be a little bit more confident. But yeah, I just want to stack days. As long as I continue to feel good, my goal is to play as soon as possible.
How did you get back in just nine months?
Just a lot of work, honestly. Every day, I mean, I was kind of giving the training room some grief last week because I still didn’t get any days off last week. I haven’t really taken a day off since my surgery. I mean it’s just been a long road. I’ve just trusted in my doctors and my team back home and trusting in the training room as well and just getting after it.
What would it mean from a hard work perspective to get back out there today?
It meant a lot. Just to see that kind of pay off. When I was — four months ago when I was in it – I didn’t go into every day smiling and happy about it. So definitely to see all of it pay off definitely means a lot.
What was last night like knowing you’d practice today?
Definitely just the anxiousness. I wouldn’t say that I was nervous necessarily. I’ve been doing this a long time, so, I mean it was more just the anxiousness to finally get back out there and get a little bit more of a normal schedule and just play some football.
Was what you did today the same as what you’d been doing on your own?
Yep, yep. For sure. Just obviously not with J-Love, Malik, the guys. But yeah, obviously I had been running all the routes I ran today, everything I had been doing. But honestly it’s a different feel when you’re doing it out on the field in a practice setting even if it’s the same things. It felt good.
How long have you been doing this type of stuff off to the side?
Probably like two months now. Obviously not at the same level throughout that time, but I’ve been cutting and running for a while now.
Any hurdle remaining?
I’d say the only hurdle really is just getting live reps and getting back into everything. Kind of like I said, just knocking the rust off, getting back into full football mode, live bullets.
What do you hope to accomplish at practice?
I just want to be me. I just want to feel 100% confident that I’m the player that I know I’m capable of being — injury aside, a 100% healthy Christian Watson.
What percent are you?
Today I felt like I was 100%. I just need to continue to stack days. If I can stack a week of feeling 100%, then I’m sure that confidence will come and I’ll be ready to go.
Trust your knee?
Honestly, my trust and confidence in the knee is honestly 100%. I’ve tried to remove any doubt or negative thoughts about it, just trusting the work that I put in and understand the things that I did today, I’ve done them thousands of times at this point. So, that’s my main thing. I don’t want to do anything that I haven’t done in a controlled setting. Obviously, as I’m able to get into those more uncontrolled settings, just continuing to have that confidence will be big.
Have your teammates supported you?
Honestly, a lot. I’d say one of my biggest motivators is being able to get back out there with the guys, for sure. I’ve been talking with them about getting back out there since the moment I went down. They’ve been a big motivating factor for me in terms of wanting to be back out there with my guys.
