GREEN BAY – When he breaks into the open field, Christian Watson doesn’t have time to consider how much stress he’s putting on his right leg, compared to his left.
He’s busy dodging tackles, trying to reach the end zone. Football is a game of split-second reactions, and few are better than Watson. He has the type of athleticism that stands out even on a field with other professional athletes. Almost nobody has his combination of size and speed.
Watson’s explosiveness is irrelevant if he can’t get off the sideline. A week after last season ended, he made a trek to Badger Athletic Performance in Madison, undergoing several hours of testing on his body. The hope was to unriddle how to keep the Green Bay Packers injury-prone receiver healthy.
Among the tests, Watson said, specialists determined he did not carry his strength symmetrically. His right leg was significantly weaker than his left.
“One, it puts strain on the left side,” Watson said. “The left is going through a lot more. Then, I mean, two, when you’re trying to be equal in power, it obviously puts a lot more stress on the one that’s not as strong.”
Watson’s disproportionate strength in his legs doesn’t pair well with a sport that requires equal stress on his limbs. He doesn’t know what his asymmetrical score was in Madison, but Watson said his left leg was 20% stronger than his right when he reported to the Green Bay Packers offseason program. He’s been working to even his strength distribution since then, testing his symmetry each week.
His score is down to about 12%, Watson said. Perfect symmetry is 0%, but also unlikely for anyone to attain. Watson hopes to be within 6% by the fall.
https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2024/05/22/packers-christian-watson-believes-he-has-found-cause-of-leg-injuries/73802710007
Ryan Wood wrote: