Christian Watson Leaves Lambeau in an Ambulance With a Broken Rib, Then Returns to Finish Packers' Win

Christian Watson’s night at Lambeau Field included an ambulance ride, a hospital X-ray, a CT scan and, about an hour later, a sprint back out of the tunnel to rejoin the game.

The Green Bay Packers wide receiver broke a rib on a 53-yard catch in the second quarter of Thursday’s 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers, was taken to a hospital and still came back to finish the game, ESPN and the Associated Press reported.

What happened to Christian Watson?

Watson was hurt on a deep ball with 9:11 left in the second quarter. It was his sixth catch of the night and pushed him to about 100 receiving yards, ESPN reported. He was slow to get up but walked off the field and jogged to the locker room on his own.

“I think I just came down on the ball or my elbow or something,” Watson said, per ESPN. “I couldn’t breathe on the field. I got the wind knocked out of me. I got back to the sideline, and I was kind of spitting up some blood or something like that. So the doctor said I had to go get a CT. I was trying to beg them to not make me do that.”

He climbed into the back of an ambulance by himself, still in full pads, a little before 8:30 p.m. local time, according to ESPN.

Christian Watson injury update: broken rib, no internal bleeding

At the hospital, an X-ray showed a broken rib. Watson also had a CT scan and blood tests, and when those showed no additional issues, he was cleared to return, ESPN reported. AP said the CT scan did not show internal bleeding.

ESPN reported he was taken to St. Vincent Hospital, about 3.9 miles from Lambeau Field, though Watson said he didn’t know which hospital it was.

“Before I even left [the hospital], I wanted to go back out there,” Watson said.

The Packers have not announced how long the rib injury might affect him going forward, so his status for Green Bay’s next game is not yet clear.

The ambulance return

By 9:19 p.m. local time, Watson hopped out of the ambulance, ran down the tunnel and was back on the sideline with 6:56 left in the third quarter, ESPN said.

“It was super dramatic,” Watson said. “I used to watch WWE as a kid. I felt like I was watching WWE Smackdown vs. Raw or something, seeing the cameras on me when I was coming out of the ambulance.”

He re-entered with 4:01 left in the third. Jordan Love immediately threw him a deep ball, which fell incomplete as Watson took another hard fall, then popped back up. He added catches of 6 and 7 yards in the fourth quarter.

According to ESPN, no one in the Packers’ locker room could remember a player who had been taken to a hospital and come back to play in the same game.

Christian Watson stats vs. Panthers

• Receptions: 8
• Yards: 113
• Long: 53, which set up Josh Jacobs’ go-ahead touchdown run

ESPN said it was Watson’s third 100-yard game this season and his third catch of 50 or more yards, the most in the NFL.

“The grit to go back in the game,” coach Matt LaFleur said, per ESPN. “He had a heck of a night.”

Safety Xavier McKinney said it “shows resiliency,” “shows toughness” and “shows the love that he has for this team.”

Who else got hurt on the play?

Panthers cornerback Will Lee hurt his hamstring diving to make the tackle on the same play and was carted to the locker room, AP reported.

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