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 tried to send the message to their group that their season wasn’t over, and it was on them to make up for Parsons’ absence.
Even after that, however, Gary struggled to find the right words to describe the effect of Parsons’ injury. He paused for a full 12 seconds — an eternity when more than a dozen reporters were waiting on his first word — before he could come up with an answer to the first question about Parsons.
“Hurt to see,” Gary said. “Will be missed on this defense. All I know is — that gives us more guys up front, more opportunities when they come to rush to cause havoc. With his absence, we got to step up front.”
Parsons was just starting to get rolling Sunday before he left the game in the third quarter following the noncontact injury to his left knee. After failing to successfully pressure Broncos quarterback Bo Nix in the first half, the Packers got to him on eight of his 13 dropbacks in the third quarter. Parsons had four of those — including three on the drive in which he was injured. Parsons led the NFL with 64 pressures this season before he left Sunday’s game.
“Just an accountability thing,” defensive lineman Karl Brooks said of Gary’s message. “Essentially just saying, just stating the obvious, bro. Just we got to step up, we got to make plays when presented and we just got to be on top of our s—. That’s all.”
Gary, however, hasn’t produced like the Packers had hoped. While his production spiked early on after Parsons’ arrival, Gary has been stuck at 7.5 sacks for nearly two months. His last sack came Oct. 26. In terms of pressures, Gary ranks a distant second to Parsons with 28. The difference of 36 pressures represents the largest gap between any team’s top-two leaders this season, according to ESPN Research.
“It’s a big loss, but we’ve got good players,” McKinney said. “That would be just saying everybody else — all the other D-linemen that we have — aren’t worth a s—, but they are. They’re really good players. They were good players before he came in. Obviously, he elevated those guys a lot in a lot of ways, and I think even with him being out, he’s one of them guys where he’s still going to help the other guys …
“Yeah, we’re going to miss him out there on the field, but I think mentally he’s still going to be there for us and that’s what we’re expecting from him. We’ve got players all around, we’ve got good depth.”
On the other side of the locker room, the offensive players weren’t sure what was going on with Watson. Few, if any, got the chance to speak with him before he left for the hospital. The fact that he was released in time to go back to Green Bay on Sunday night was a good sign that perhaps it’s not a season-ending injury.
Watson’s injury seemed to change the whole tone of the game. The Packers led 23-14 and had the ball when quarterback Jordan Love took a deep shot to Watson, whose return to action Oct. 26 expanded the deep-ball dynamic in the offense. When Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II made a leaping interception, he landed on Watson, who appeared to reach for his shoulder or collarbone.
“We’ll see what the injury is, but I think since Christian’s been back from his rehab, he’s done some great things and been that explosive playmaker that we needed,” Love said. “With him going out, I think we still got plenty of depth in that receiver room and other guys that played plenty of ball and can step up and make plays.
“I think we’ll have no problem filling that void if he’s got to miss time. … I think we’ve got plenty of depth in that room and plenty of guys that are playmakers, as well, that we’ll have no problem if he is out.”
There was more: Right tackle Zach Tom and safety Evan Williams couldn’t finish the game because of knee injuries, tight end Josh Whyle left with a concussion and receiver Jayden Reed hobbled off the field on the final drive.
At some point, injuries can ruin a season. The Packers know they’re not getting back Parsons, Wyatt, Kraft or center Elgton Jenkins. So the question now is do they still have enough to make a run. They’re 9-4-1 and left Denver clinging to the final NFC wild-card playoff spot. A win at Chicago (10-4) on Saturday will put the Packers right back on top of the North Division and give them the tiebreaker over the Bears.
“It’s not going to be one individual that can do that,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think it’s the collective, it’s everybody playing to the best of their ability. And, you know, like I said before, they’re going to have to feed off one another and rally around each other, and it’s going to be opportunities for other guys to get in there, and they’re going to have to be impactful.”
