What's next for Packers after Parsons, Watson injuries? - ESPN

DENVER — When the Green Bay Packers opened training camp on July 23, no one had any inkling they would trade for defensive end Micah Parsons shortly before the regular season or if receiver Christian Watson would return to his old form following last season's knee injury.

At that point, All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney believed his team could be a Super Bowl contender.

So in his mind, why would anything change after the Packers lost Parsons on Sunday to an apparent season-ending ACL injury and could be without Watson because of a chest injury that required a hospital visit before he could travel home with the team?

Perhaps he was just trying to be an optimist after all that happened Sunday — including a 34-26 loss to the Denver Broncos — but McKinney refused to believe the Packers don't have a Super Bowl run in them.

«I mean, the season ain't over,» McKinney said. «So s---, we've still got work to do. And obviously with this loss, it puts us in a different spot, but we've still got a chance to do what we want to do: win the division and make a big run in the playoffs.

»Obviously, guys got hurt today, but that don't mean the season's just over. We've just got to keep working, keep finding ways where we can get better, we've got to try to be as healthy as possible and that's just what it is."

The injuries, however, weren't just to any players. They were to their best defensive player and the most explosive offensive performer. This after they previously lost defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt to a season-ending ankle injury and budding star tight end Tucker Kraft to a torn ACL earlier this season.

In one corner of the visitors' locker room inside Empower Field at Mile High, Rashan Gary gathered his fellow defensive linemen and