GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Here's how it's been for the Green Bay Packers of late: Midway through Tuesday's training camp practice, tight end Luke Musgrave broke away from the defense on a corner route and hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Malik Willis. Not even 30 minutes later, Musgrave limped off the field.
Shortly before that, receiver Romeo Doubs took a hard fall, stayed crouched down on the field for several minutes and then left holding his lower back.
While both said after practice that they would be OK, all this was going on while quarterback Jordan Love was scheduled to undergo surgery on his left thumb.
Throw in the fact that the Packers were already practicing without five other likely starters or key contributors, and it's no wonder coach Matt LaFleur doesn't feel too good about his team's health.
"Right now, I don't," LaFleur said before Tuesday's practice. "We're missing a lot of key players that are integral to our success as a football team. It is what it is. It's an opportunity for some other guys, but we definitely had some injuries strike up at some positions where it's made us pretty thin."
Most notably, in the receiver department.
Jayden Reed (foot) and Dontayvion Wicks (calf) haven't practiced since early in training camp. Reed has been in a walking boot since Saturday. Christian Watson (knee) remains on the physically unable to perform list while he works his way back from a torn right ACL. General manager Brian Gutekunst on Tuesday said Watson will likely start the season on the PUP list, which means he would be out a minimum of four games. But considering he's only eight months removed from his surgery, it's likely to be even longer, even though by all accounts his rehab has been ahead of schedule.
"I mean, it's tough because when you see him run ... want to throw him out there, right?" Gutekunst said. "But there's kind of a timeline with these ACLs and he's ahead of the curve, there's no doubt about it. But at the same time, he's got a long career in front of him, so we want to make sure we take the proper steps and we don't skip any steps along the way.
"I think more than likely he'll start the year on the PUP. After that fourth game I'm sure he's going to be champing at the bit, and it's going take a lot of us to hold him back."
While the Packers haven't sustained a season-ending injury to an expected starter or significant contributor, the sheer volume of injuries has been cause for concern -- especially among the receivers.
When Doubs left practice, it left the Packers without the top four receivers on their roster from last season. First-round pick Matthew Golden, third-round pick Savion Williams and Malik Heath, who is either fifth or sixth on the receiver depth chart, were the top three remaining receivers. The rest of the receiver group included Julian Hicks, Will Sheppard, Isaiah Neyor and Mecole Hardman. Hicks, Sheppard and Neyor have combined to play in zero NFL games.
It's no wonder Musgrave admitted that he just hoped he wasn't the next pass catcher to go down, especially after rolling his right ankle.
"Yeah, we've got to stay healthy," Musgrave said. "It sucks seeing guys go down, so gotta stay healthy."
The secondary isn't in much better shape. Cornerback Nate Hobbs, the $48 million free agent signed this offseason, underwent knee surgery on Aug. 2 and All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney dropped out of training camp last week because of a calf injury that will keep him out the rest of the preseason.
The running back group behind Josh Jacobs has been a mess as well. Emanuel Wilson (knee) and MarShawn Lloyd (groin) just returned to full team drills Tuesday after getting hurt early in camp. And just as they returned, Israel Abanikanda (hamstring) dropped out and Jalen White (foot) was waived/injured.
"Any injury kind of irks you and frustrates you but, at the same time, you know it's coming, you know it's part of it," Gutekunst said. "I think Matt and his staff have done a really good job of taking the pulse of our team and knowing when to push, when to back off.
"We've got four really important touchpoints here over the next 10 days or so that are going to be really important for this football team. So I think we're ready for that. I think it's been pretty similar to last year."