The last thing any team wants to see within the first few games of the season is a star player falling victim to a long-term injury. It kills momentum in a way. With any injury, you're ready with the "next man up" mentality to quickly move on, but the loss is still deflating. Teams have their plans for the season, players have their goals set, you're trying to figure out this year's identity, and you lose one of the key players in creating that identity. 

In the second game of the season, the Green Bay Packers lost WR Jayden Reed to a broken collarbone. Reed had been playing with a foot injury to begin with suffered during the preseason, but since surgery was not an immediate need, he opted to play on it. With the collarbone injury, Reed decided to just undergo both surgeries. Per Matt LaFleur, the foot his completely healed and ready to go, but the team is waiting on tests to see whether or not the collarbone is ready. There have been some cryptic tweets from Jayden Reed indicating a possible return, but the Packers were hoping to have that news sometime today. 

In years long past, the term "placed on injured reserve" used to mean their season was over. You wouldn't see that player until next season. It was like a kiss of death for some players because it didn't always mean that they had an injury that would take the remainder of the season to heal. Sometimes, those players were unfortunate casualties of teams having to keep a healthy and competitive 53-man roster. They could lose their spot because the team had needs elsewhere and couldn't wait 3-4 weeks for them to be healed. Today it's much less dramatic. 

Injured Reserve today is still a designation that no player wants, but if they heal up in enough time during the season, they can return and still contribute on the field before the season is over. The Packers are hoping Jayden Reed can do just this for the final months of the season. 

Before going down to injury in the first quarter of the second game of the season, Reed had three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Reed was injured on a play where he would have scored on a 39-yard touchdown catch, had Anthony Belton not been called for holding, negating the score. Outside of Tucker Kraft, you could say Jayden Reed was the Packers' biggest YAC threat, especially in the middle of the field. 

With Tucker Kraft going down in week 9, the Packers have been left without a pass-catcher who can gain that extra yardage after the reception. Given the offensive line's recent struggles to better protect Jordan Love, one solution is to get the ball out of Love's hands more quickly. But the problem with that is, when you don't have a pass-catcher that can create those yards after the catch, you limit your big-play potential with those quick, short routes.

Jayden Reed's return could help provide that dynamic play-making threat when Jordan Love needs to get the ball out quickly.  

Light the Spark

Amongst currently active players, so far this season, Romeo Doubs has been Jordan Love's most reliable target. After Doubs, that would be Josh Jacobs and Matthew Golden. The odd part of that statement is that Josh Jacobs is a running back, and there have been countless arguments that Matthew Golden has not been properly utilized. Despite only playing in four games so far this season, Christian Watson is quickly making his way up the list with 12 catches on 17 targets for 234 yards and two touchdowns.

We all know the Packers like to spread the ball around. The idea of them having a number 1 wide receiver is something that's been endlessly tossed around. They have their leading receivers, but no one is really that primary go-to. That's why Jayden Reed's return not only adds a dynamic play-making threat to the Packers' offense but also gives a boost to the rest of the lineup. 

We already saw what Christian Watson's deep threat presence did for Tucker Kraft before injury, and it's a shame we don't get to see it more this season. But that same deep threat presence will also benefit Jayden Reed in the shorter and medium routes. The other way around could be said for Watson, where Reed's abilities could draw more attention and free up Watson to have more 1x1 matchups.  Reed is also a deep threat in his own right, with a few 50+ yard catches to his credit throughout his career. Two receivers capable of stretching a field on at once are bound to create mismatches. 

While it will be hard to take catches away from Romeo Doubs, considering how he's become the Packers' most sure-handed receiver, Reed does take some of that pressure off as well. Reed ranked just barely below Doubs in 2024 with 29 first-down catches to Doubs' 33. 

The availability of Jayden Reed could go either way, however, for Matthew Golden. While many thought Golden would be one to step up in Reed's absence, the reality hasn't been quite as fruitful. Reed's return may take even more targets away from Matthew Golden; however, it could also have the opposite effect. More focus from the defense on taking away Reed's play-making threat could mean less attention on Golden, where he could find himself open more often. 

Even the running game can benefit from Jayden Reed returning to form. More threats through the air means lighter boxes for the running game. If the offensive line can start paving the road for Josh Jacobs a bit cleaner, we could see the threat of the rush increase. 

First, Jayden Reed needs to be cleared to return, which looks like it could be sooner than later. Once he's back, his presence could light the spark that gets the Packers offense back on track.