GREEN BAY, Wis. — On a night when they authored the first shutout of the entire NFL season and clinched a playoff berth for the second straight year, about the only problem the Green Bay Packers encountered was a knee injury to Christian Watson.
It happened at the end of a 14-yard gain on an end around in the second quarter of Monday Night's 34-0 win over the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field. A pair of New Orleans defensive backs — Alontae Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry — landed on Watson's left knee as he went out of bounds at the Saints' 6-yard line.
«There's some concern there certainly,» Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after Monday's game. «We're going to get some more testing done tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have an answer for you tomorrow.»
Watson actually returned to play seven more snaps, including four in the third quarter, before he left the game for good. He remained on the Packers' sideline for the rest of the game.
«It definitely hurt right away but it felt like it was good enough to go back in, so I went back in and it was feeling all right,» Watson said. «But it was just kind of lingering a little bit and I just couldn't play the type of football I wanted to play, so I just had to shut it down.»
Watson did not have a catch but he finished with two rushes for 23 yards. Other than Watson's injury, it was a monumental night for the Packers.
It was their first shutout since the 2021 season and they clinched a playoff spot with two games still to play. Although the Packers (11-4) can't win the NFC North, they can still get the top wild-card seed. They close with two division games — at Minnesota (13-2) on Sunday and home against the Bears (4-11) in Week 18.
There had not been a shutout in the NFL all season
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