GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Wake up. Eat breakfast. Go to meetings. Play some video games. It's wide receiver Christian Watson's regular routine on game days.
So he tried to make this past Sunday in Pittsburgh as regular as possible.
Easier said than done.
Watson had not done anything like that in 294 days. The last time he went through his game-day routine was Jan. 5, hours before he tore the ACL in his right knee during the final game of last season.
It was after his last game of Battlefield 6 on Sunday in his room at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott when he realized he couldn't fake normal anymore.
"When I was getting ready to pack my bag and go downstairs is when it started to hit me, the long road that I was on," Watson said. "It meant a lot for me to get this [far]. I'd say that, but honestly it felt like a pretty routine game day for everything that happened and everything I went through the last nine months. It really felt like a really normal game day for me. I'm thankful for that."
It looked normal on the field, too. Or normal for the Packers' big-play receiver. In 36 snaps -- more than anyone expected him to play -- Watson caught all four passes thrown his way for 85 yards in a 35-25 win over the Steelers.
While Jordan Love didn't hit Watson on his patented go route, Watson's 21.3-yard average per catch was even better than his career average of 16.9 yards -- which was third best in the NFL entering this season among players with at least 75 catches since the start of the 2022 season.
After a garden variety out route for 5 yards on his first target, Watson caught passes of 19, 33 and 28 yards. His longest reception came on a scramble-drill play.
Jordan Love goes DEEP to Christian Watson on 3rd down
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On any other day, Watson's performance after practicing for only three weeks might have been the lead story. But with Aaron Rodgers going up against his old team, Love clearly outplaying his predecessor, and tight end Tucker Kraft putting together a career day, Watson's performance was overshadowed.
"It's the same thing that we've been seeing in practice," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after watching the game film on Monday. "He brings an element to our offense and to our team, just the size, the speed, and I've talked about it many times, just his versatility."
If Watson was on a specific snap count limit, no one said what it was. But it wasn't as high as the 36 snaps -- or 54% of the offensive plays -- he played.
"He actually played a little bit more than probably anticipated," LaFleur said. "But that was something that we were monitoring the whole game. ... I don't think you can treat every play the same. It's different if you're on the backside, if you're run blocking, versus if you're running a post down the field. So there's a little bit of wiggle room there."
Speaking of blocking, Watson had a key block on Kraft's 16-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the first quarter. He and fellow receiver Malik Heath cleared Kraft's path to the end zone.
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"You saw his presence felt not only in the passing game with those explosion plays, but also as a blocker downfield," LaFleur said. "I mean, he had a heck of a block on Tucker's, his first touchdown. There was some good stuff in the run game, so he's just a really valuable piece for us."
No one was more appreciative of -- and happy for -- Watson than Kraft, who lives in Green Bay year-round and saw how much time Watson spent at team facility rehabbing his knee this past offseason.
"That's a guy right there who has been battling his tail off for the last year," Kraft said. "Coming in, not missing a day. You can't. You have a reconstructive surgery like that, you can't miss a day. That's just a credit to him and all the work he's put in. He's a great guy, he's a good father, amazing teammate. I'm very glad to have him back on our team."
And Watson was glad for everything to feel normal again, although he admittedly got caught up in the moment.
"I was telling some of the guys, it started hitting me probably toward the end of the game when we kind of sealed the deal," Watson said. "It kind of hit me. It means a lot to me to be able to play football and be a part of this team. Just knowing how these last nine months went, it meant a lot to me to go out and play."