Packers WR Sammy Watkins ruled out Week 3 vs. Bucs

The Green Bay Packers had several wide receivers on their injury report Thursday afternoon. Early Friday, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that their status would be determined on Sunday. But it appears one wide receiver has already been ruled out for Sunday’s Week 3 matchup against the Buccaneers. And it’s the Packers leading wide receiver so far in 2022.

The Packers have been battling multiple injuries to key players in the early season. The injury bug has affected a wide receiver corps that was already proving not to be a favorite of Aaron Rodgers. The return of Allen Lazard helped the Packers’ passing game in their Week 2 win over the Packers. His play loosened the Bears secondary’s coverage of wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins used the open coverage to his advantage as he had 93 yards receiving. Watkins leads all Packers wide receivers in 2022 with 111 receiving yards.

Bad news for Watkins came out of the Packers injury report released Friday. Watkins, who sustained a hamstring injury, has been ruled out for the Buccaneers game this Sunday.

The injury means the Packers need to lean on another wide receiver. With the numerous injuries that the Packers have, it was expected that Amari Rodgers and rookie Romeo Doubs would get extra playing time in Week 3. Per Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com, LaFleur floated Doubs name as someone who will get more snaps this week.

With Watkins out and two other receivers questionable, Head Coach Matt LaFleur told reporters before Friday’s practice that rookie fourth-round pick Romeo Doubs is “probably gonna have to take more of a load this week.”

It’s unlikely that Doubs will be able to jump in and immediately put up the stats that the Packers leading wide receiver has against the Buccaneers. But it will be nice to see him get a chance to build a positive rapport with Rodgers now that Doubs is expected to have a larger role. The Packers need Aaron to build trust with this group of wide receivers for their success later in the season.

It’ll be interesting to see if this new batch of injuries will get Amari more playing time. The wide receiver said he wants to build trust with Aaron and understands why Aaron has been critical of him in front of the media. Amari has the best opportunity to prove he can be more than a special teams player for the Packers. The question now for the Packers is, which guy will step up at wide receiver?