Through the first two weeks of the 2025 NFL season, there hasn’t been a team that has looked more top-to-bottom impressive than the Green Bay Packers. After hoping to take a leap into Super Bowl contention with the Micah Parsons trade, the franchise appears to be well on its way to achieving that goal with the way they’ve played. Handily dispatching two other NFC contenders, they’ve dominated every facet of the game.
Even the offense, which had major question marks given the lack of a true alpha on the unit, has more than held its own, thanks to a host of contributing characters. However, those questions could reemerge after one of those key contributors, Jayden Reed, went down with a severe injury following a hard fall in Week 2 against the Washington Commanders.
What Happened To Jayden Reed?
A solid career for Michigan State, spearheaded by a ridiculous 2021 campaign, paved the way for the Packers to select Reed with the 50th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He was immediately productive, hovering around the 800 receiving yard mark each in his first two years.
The biggest positive for Green Bay was the consistency and availability he displayed. However, in the final game of his second season, the Wild Card Round tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles, Reed suffered an apparent shoulder injury on a hit from Reed Blankenship.
It put him out for the rest of the game. During training camp, a Jones fracture was a small setback in the building to the start of the 2025 season. Due to the injury, he had to remain in a walking boot for an extended portion of the training camp.
Despite the injury, he took the field in Week 1 and came out to a strong start, pouring in 45 yards and a touchdown against the Detroit Lions in a 27-13 win. However, tragedy struck the next time the Packers took the field.
Early in the first quarter, Jordan Love tried to connect with Reed on a 39-yard bomb. The play was called back due to a holding penalty. But the cost for the Packers was far steeper than just 39 receiving yards.
Falling out of bounds, Reed was tackled from behind by safety Quan Martin. Unfortunately, he fell on his shoulder, leading to Reed being immediately taken out of the game. On further diagnosis, it was confirmed that he had suffered a fractured collarbone.
After the game, head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed that Reed was heading to the injured reserve list with a long recovery process.
What’s the Timetable for Reed’s Return?
The extent of his injuries, both the one he suffered against Washington and the lingering issue in his foot, meant that it was going to be a while before fans in Titletown saw Reed back on the gridiron.
After their Thursday Night game, LaFleur confirmed as much, stating, “He’s going to miss a lot of time. Unfortunately, he broke his collarbone, so he’ll be down for quite some time. We’ll see how fast he can recover and heal. Certainly, I would expect him back at some point this season, but obviously it’s a big blow to us.”
Successful foot & clavicle surgery thank you God 🙏🏾
— j.reed11💂🏾 (@JaydenReed5) September 16, 2025
With a potential six to eight week recovery time for the collarbone, Reed also decided to get treatment on his foot. On Sept. 16, he took to X to announce, “Successful foot & clavicle surgery thank you God.”
His timeline remains the same; however, with November a potential return point to enhance the Packers’ wide-receiving core.
Speaking on his absence, LaFleur sounded confident about his team’s chances. He said, “Fortunately for us, I feel like we have a pretty deep wide receiver room and there’s going to be opportunities there for other guys to step up and take advantage of it.”
Names like Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, alongside rookie Matthew Golden, would be the ones taking on the biggest workload.
Simultaneously, the tight end group should also get more targets in the coming weeks, especially with Tucker Kraft coming off a 124-yard outing against the Commanders.