ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Just when the Green Bay Packers got rookie wide receiver Christian Watson back from a hamstring injury, they lost him again after he sustained a concussion in the first quarter of Sunday night's 27-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Watson was hit at the end of a 12-yard catch on the Packers' opening drive.
The Packers' medical staff initially brought out a board that is used when players suffer neck injuries, but Watson walked off under his own power. He was ruled out shortly thereafter.
The 2022 second-round draft pick had played in only four of the Packers' first seven games this season, including missing the previous two, all because of the hamstring injury.
He also missed most of training camp because of a knee surgery he underwent following the Packers' offseason program.
The Packers had hoped the return of the speedy Watson would open things up for their offense.
"It definitely opens up things, for sure, when you can utilize him in a lot of different ways, and we kind of got into that in earlier parts of the season," Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said last week. "Right now, he's coming off a hamstring injury, so you kind of have to manage him still. You don't want to put too much on his plate. But yeah, he brings an element to our offense that we haven't had in a few weeks."
The Packers already were without wideouts Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard. Cobb is on injured reserve because of a knee injury, and Lazard was inactive because of a shoulder injury.
Watson's departure left the Packers with four available wide receivers: Sammy Watkins, Romeo Doubs, Amari Rodgers and Samori Toure.
The Packers then lost another one of their rookie starters when linebacker Quay Walker was ejected for shoving someone on the Bills' sideline. It appeared to be practice squad tight end Zach Davidson. The incident happened at the end of a play in which Walker tackled Bills wideout Stefon Diggs after a 9-yard catch near the sideline.
Walker, the 22nd overall pick in the draft, was initially flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. After a short discussion among the officials, referee Ronald Torbert announced that Walker was disqualified. He was replaced on defense by Isaiah McDuffie.
An emotional Walker said postgame that the shove was a response to feeling that he had been pushed.
"I'm on their sideline, feelings just flowing, I'm very hyped and everything like that, and I just let it [out] out of emotion," he said. "Right away, as soon as I did that, I regretted that I did that. But it's something I'm gonna have to live with and I'm gonna have to face. I'm willing to do so. But I apologized to the guy that I did push, although I did feel like I was pushed. ... At the same time, I'm sorry for what I did and I just got to face it."
Walker walked away at the end of his group interview in tears. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he was frustrated not just with Walker but with the lack of discipline all around from his team.
However, addressing Walker's ejection specifically, LaFleur said: "Like I told him on the field, I said it's always the second guy. You've got to keep your poise. That's something we talk about, we stress all the time, and we show clips of guys around the league losing their mind. It's an unfortunate lesson that he's going to learn, and I hope it's a good reminder for everybody on our football team, because that's the kind of stuff that I have zero tolerance for.
"Mistakes are going to happen in this game, but losing your cool, losing your poise, putting the team in jeopardy, I've got no tolerance for that."
In addition, Green Bay linebacker De'Vondre Campbell was later ruled out for the rest of the game because of a knee injury.
That left the Packers without both of their starting inside linebackers and with only the seldom-used McDuffie and recently acquired Eric Wilson.
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October 31, 2022 at 08:16AM
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Packers lose WR Christian Watson, LB Quay Walker vs. Bills - ESPN
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