GREEN BAY — Having been through an injury issue or two in his career — in truth, a lot more than one or two, unfortunately for him — Christian Watson knew exactly what would happen if his name appeared on the Green Bay Packers’ injury report on Thursday afternoon.

Cause a stir, and lead to questions about whether he’d be would be ready for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Because, if Watson had had a say in the matter, he wouldn’t have seen his name added to the report at all.

“They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do,” the fourth-year wide receiver said after officially being listed as limited because of a “knee/hamstring” injury on the report. “If it were up to me, I’m not injured. I’m good. I have no worries in terms of where I’m going to be at for Sunday.”

Watson, who tore the ACL in his right knee during the Packers’ Jan. 5 regular-season finale against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field and started the season on the physically unable to perform list, returned to game action Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh and has caught eight passes for 188 yards on 12 targets in his three games this season.

Watson classified his knee and hamstring as “feeling sore” after playing 135 offensive snaps in those three games — including 56 snaps (82.4%) in Monday night’s loss to Philadelphia.

“I felt good all game. I wouldn’t really classify it as an injury because I didn’t get injured or anything,” Watson said. “It wasn’t during the game — just obviously a couple days after, just feeling sore.

“I’ve told the trainers, I’ve told the strength staff, ‘I like being just football sore and not ACL and knee sore.’ So it’s been fun for me to get back to regular football and I’ve been enjoying it. It’s just good to be back out there.”

Van Ness returns to practice | Out since suffering a foot injury during the Packers’ Oct. 12 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, defensive end Lukas Van Ness practiced on a limited basis for the first time on Thursday.

“It felt great to be back out there,” Van Ness said afterward.

While it seems likely that Van Ness will miss his fifth straight game, taking part in practice is obviously a vital step toward him getting back on the field on game day.

“I just think he’s a really good player, [and] you always want good players out there on the field,” head coach Matt LaFleur said. “His versatility is something that I think could give us a boost — his ability to play on the edge or kick down inside. We’ll see how it goes and see where he’s at.”

Golden progressing | Rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden, who was “definitely close” to playing last week against the Eagles according to LaFleur, was listed as a limited participant in practice for a second straight day, an encouraging sign that he has a chance to play against the Giants.

“I feel pretty good,” Golden said after practice. “I’m excited about being back on the field and being able to go out there and try to help the team as much as I can.”

Asked why he wasn’t able to go on Monday night, Golden replied that he “just didn’t feel comfortable about where I was at physically. Talked to the coaches, training staff, and we all came down to a decision that that’s what was best for me.”

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