GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jayden Reed was in pain due to an injured foot, but it was nothing compared to the pain Reed was inflicting on opposing defenses.
Reed scored a touchdown in the Green Bay Packers’ season-opening victory against Detroit. Five days later, he scored another touchdown with a phenomenal end-zone catch at Washington. That play was nullified by penalty and, adding infinitely more injury to insult, he suffered a broken collarbone on the play.
“It’s all God’s timing,” Reed said on Friday after being designated for return from injured reserve and practicing for the first time in more than two months. “I wasn’t really disappointed, man. I was just excited for the next guy up because I know we’ve got a lot of playmakers in the room. I was just really excited for the next man, really.
“I think everything happened for a reason. It was God trying to tell me to help my foot out a little bit, so that’s kind of how I took it.”
Reed had surgery to repair both injuries. Ten weeks later, Reed was back on the practice field is and eager to help the Packers for the stretch run.
Reed’s not sure when he’ll be cleared to play. He won’t play on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings and, without a practice on a short week, it’d be a surprise if he played on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions.
Whenever he returns, he’ll add a big-time weapon to an offense that could use one.
Reed was a second-round draft pick in 2023, which corresponds to when Jordan Love took over as the team’s starting quarterback. As a rookie, he led the team with 64 receptions, 793 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns and was tied for first with eight receiving touchdowns.
Last season, he again led the team with 55 receptions and 857 receiving yards, and he was second with seven total touchdowns and 15.6 yards per catch.
This year, he caught three passes for 45 yards and one touchdown against Detroit in Week 1. Against Washington on a Thursday night, he was injured on his first target against the Commanders.
For an offense that has run sporadically all season and has struggled to make up for the loss of tight end Tucker Kraft, Reed could be an X-factor down the stretch.
“It’s obviously a different offense when you have all your playmakers out there,” Love said. “We’ve been missing him and obviously can’t wait to get him back.”
Passes thrown to Reed last season resulted in a league-high 137.5 passer rating, according to Pro Football Focus. In three years, the passer rating when targeted is 130.4 on the strength of 15 touchdowns and one interception.
“I think first and foremost, he brings a very dynamic aspect to our offense,” Love said. “I think you’ve seen that over the last couple years with him here. He’s a playmaker. Obviously, the last play before he got hurt was a touchdown that got called back. Definitely just a playmaker that we’ve been missing.”
Reed could be the big run-after-catch threat that the Packers have missed since Kraft suffered a torn ACL a few weeks ago. Last year, 82 receivers were targeted more than 50 times. According to PFF, Reed was fifth with 7.1 yards after the catch per catch.
“I think once they clear him, he’s going to be ready to roll,” passing game coordinator Jason Vrable said on Thursday. “He’s as hungry as they come right now. It’s been difficult for him, but the foot’s great and the shoulder’s working back, and he’s a dawg, so I just can’t wait to get him back out on the field.
“But he’s been a great leader. He’s traveled to most of the games once he was cleared. You should see him on the sideline, just talking to guys, keeping everybody locked in, and just the energy. He’s one of those guys I think makes our team better, makes everyone in the building better.”
While Reed was ruled out on the injury report, he didn’t disagree with Vrable’s ready-to-roll sentiment.
“I’ve been working through some things for a while,” he said. “I’ve been running for a while to be honest, like for a few weeks now, so I don’t think the conditioning standpoint is a problem or anything like that. Definitely helps getting team reps and stuff like that, but I’m on Year 3 now, so it’s not really any excuses for that. So, me being a leader is how I view myself, I got to be prepared for whatever.”
Reed isn’t just a terrific player. He’s a high-energy, team-first player. “If you juiceless, you useless,” Reed said. He brought the juice as much as possible during his absence.
“Man, just the excitement with the guys,” he said when asked what he’s looking forward to when he starts playing again. “Just running up, picking up my teammates, the smiles, the laughing – just the fun part of the game, I just want to get back to it. I miss it.”
Watching from the sideline was the best part and the worst part at the same time.
“I enjoy watching the guys,” he said. “It wasn’t really hard for me to watch. It was just really hard not being able. I had to piss in a cup for a few days. It was a lot of stuff that I went through but really just watching, I enjoy watching the guys all the time. No matter what, through the hard, the good times, it’s just good seeing those guys out there making plays, flying around and putting it all on the line.”
Reed has endured his share of bumps and bruises during his career but, until the broken collarbone, he had missed only one game in his career.
But he’ll be back for the most important games of the season with a healthy foot, fresh legs and a hungry mindset.
“You just got to appreciate when you out there, man,” he said. “Like, you never know when it’s your last snap. That was like the first time I got surgery and I got two surgeries so, yeah, this is a serious game we play and it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and it can get to your mental some time, as well, so you got to take care of that kind of stuff.
“I’m just glad I had all the right people around me to keep me in the right mindset and stuff like that.”
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