Christian Watson left Lambeau Field in an ambulance Thursday night with a chest injury, then walked back into the stadium about an hour later and returned to the game. The Green Bay Packers wide receiver caught eight passes for 113 yards as the Packers held off the Carolina Panthers 27-19, improving to 5-3 on the season.
The scare began with 9:11 left in the second quarter, when Jordan Love uncorked a 53-yard bomb that Watson hauled in at the Carolina 26-yard line, according to NBC Sports. Panthers defenders Zakee Wheatley and Will Lee III both hit Watson during the catch, a collision that sent him to the sideline and, eventually, out of the stadium. Watson walked to the training room before being transported via ambulance to a local hospital for precautionary reasons, per the same report.
Carolina's Lee was hurt on the exact same play, suffering a left hamstring injury that required staff to help him to the sideline before he was carted off the field. He did not return, and the Panthers listed him as doubtful, NBC Sports reported. The dual injuries turned one highlight-reel catch into a frightening sequence for both sidelines.
Spitting Blood, Then Pleading to Play
Watson spat blood on the field before leaving, and the Packers said medical staff wanted to ensure he had no internal bleeding in his chest, according to the New York Post. The team initially listed him as questionable to return with a chest injury, as NBC Sports also noted. Watson reportedly told team personnel he did not want to go to the hospital and said he was hoping he could still get back into the game, per the Post's reporting.
Green Bay's own injury update confirmed the team's thinking in the moment, saying Watson was taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons. The team had already banked six catches and 100 yards from him by halftime, numbers that made his sideline absence sting even more while the outcome of his testing remained unknown.
Back at Lambeau Within the Hour
Watson cleared testing and was on his way back to the stadium, The Athletic reported, returning to the field with 6:50 left in the third quarter while still officially listed as questionable. The Post reported he re-entered the game with under five minutes left in the third quarter and that the home crowd gave him a roaring ovation upon his return — a detail that captures just how unlikely his comeback looked less than an hour earlier.
After the game, Watson told reporters he had been coughing up blood and had suffered a fractured rib before going back in, according to NBC Sports Fantasy. No independent medical documentation of that diagnosis has been released. The Athletic also noted that a similar situation occurred last season, when Watson went to the hospital with a chest injury during a road game against the Denver Broncos.
A Productive Second Half Despite the Scare
Watson added two catches for 13 yards in the second half, finishing with his third 100-plus-yard receiving game of the season, the Post reported. Green Bay has leaned heavily on him and fellow receiver Matthew Golden since losing Jayden Reed for the year to a season-ending neck injury suffered in Week 2 against the New York Jets. Watson and Golden have combined to become the first receiving duo since Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in 2022 to each top 600 receiving yards through a team's first eight games, according to CBS Sports.
The win itself followed a shaky start. The Packers fell behind 10-6 in the second quarter before ripping off 21 consecutive points, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Green Bay's defense made life miserable for Bryce Young, sacking him six times and largely shutting down Carolina's third-down offense, according to USA Today. The final score — 27-19 — pushed Green Bay to 5-3 while Carolina dropped to 3-4, per the team's own recap published by the Green Bay Packers.
Green Bay's official social media account flagged the injury in real time, posting that Watson was being taken to the hospital for precautionary testing as the stadium absorbed the news mid-game. By the time the final whistle blew, Watson was back on the field, in the box score, and at the center of one of the stranger subplots of Green Bay's Week 8 win.
