GREEN BAY — Coming off the bye week, the Green Bay Packers were back on the practice field on Monday, and taking part was wide receiver Christian Watson.

This was Watson’s first team practice since he suffered an ACL injury in Week 18 of the 2024 season.

“It felt great,” Watson said after practice. “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.”

Still working his way back from the ACL injury during the summer, Watson began training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP). He then maintained that designation at the start of the 2025 regular season.

Per NFL rules, Watson was not eligible to return to practice until after the first four games of the season, making Monday’s practice the first day he was able to do so.

Returning at this point was always the plan as long as he continued to feel good during his rehab, Watson said.

Watson’s return from the PUP list now opens a 21-day window for the Packers to add him back to the 53-man roster, at which point, he can play on Sundays.

“I just want to be me,” Watson said of his return to practice. “I just want to feel 100 percent confident that I’m the player that I know I’m capable of being — injury aside, a 100 percent healthy Christian Watson.”

Watson’s return to practice took only 274 days, or just over nine months, and  was the payoff of a lot of hard work, with some admittedly difficult days during the rehab process. Watson didn’t go into every day “smiling and happy,” but he went to work regardless.

“Just a lot of work, honestly,” Watson said. “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.”

As Watson ramps back up, he did not participate in the team portion of Monday’s practice, which is the next step in this return process for him.

However, he was able to run all of the required routes during the individual period of practice without any limitations.

What Watson was asked to do on Monday was nothing new for him. The running, cutting and routes he ran in practice are something that he has been doing to varying degrees for about two months now. The only difference was that he was now doing all of it with the rest of the team.

“I’d say the only hurdle really is just getting live reps and getting back into everything,” Watson said. “Kind of like I said, just knocking the rust off, getting back into full football mode, live bullets.”

On his first day back, Watson said he felt like he was at 100%. However, in order to know that he’s fully ready to take the field on a game day, one day of being 100% needs to become three, and then five, and then a week’s worth of days, if not more.

Along with knocking off the rust that Watson is experiencing after not playing live football for nine months, there is also a confidence that he has to have in his knee when on the field — almost as if nothing ever happened.

The only way to get to that point is by getting more reps under his belt, specifically in the live team portion of practice. While Watson felt good on Monday, there is a different level of confidence that is required when in the more unpredictable 11-on-11 settings.

“Honestly, my trust and confidence in the knee is honestly 100 percent,” Watson said. “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.”

The goal for Watson is to be available as soon as possible, but achieving that starts with stacking the positive days.

Watson’s eventual return to the field on Sundays will provide the Packers’ offense with a major boost. His speed, which garners plenty of attention, brings an added big-play and vertical presence to the offense.

His impact, however, goes well beyond just being a downfield threat. Watson is a willing blocker, and he brings a well-rounded skill set to the position, according to Packers coach Matt LaFleur said, able to line up across the formation and attack all levels of the field.

Although it is unclear when Watson will officially be back for game action, his mere presence on the practice field is already making an impact after just one day.

“It felt great, man,” receiver Malik Heath said of Watson’s return. “Just seeing him move. He gave me, I can’t speak for everybody, but he gave me a little extra spark. Just to go out there and do better, catch everything and just run faster. Because like I said, he’s just like a spark plug that you need in this offense and when we get everybody back we going to be clicking.”