GREEN BAY — Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed see themselves as brothers from other mothers. The two Green Bay Packers wide receivers always say they are more than just friends or teammates.

So when Wicks was asked — or, more accurately, started to be asked — Wednesday about the viral post-op video his brother/fellow wideout put on Instagram Live a day earlier after undergoing surgery to repair his broken right collarbone and fractured left foot, Wicks didn’t even wait for the question to end.

“Yeah. Hahahaha. Yeah, my dog [was] on there trippin’, man,” Wicks said of the way Reed was rambling — and predicting that the Packers will reach Super Bowl LX — as his anesthesia was wearing off. He [was] on there out of his body.”

#Packers WR Jayden Reed confirms he underwent successful surgery on his broken right collarbone and the Jones fracture in his left foot. 🩻 Also thanks folks for their prayers 🙏 and confirms that the #Packers are going to the Super Bowl … bruh. 🏈 pic.twitter.com/g9hK0b1ad9

— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) September 17, 2025

Reed will also be out of the lineup for the foreseeable future. And therein lies the Packers wide receivers’ collective challenge: Filling the void left by having one of their top passing-game targets sidelined.

“I think J-Reed’s a 1-of-1. Definitely a guy that will be missed out there on the field,” quarterback Jordan Love said after Wednesday’s practice. “But we’ve got a lot of guys in that receiver room who can step up, who’ve played a lot of good minutes. This won’t be their first time getting in there.”

The last time a prominent Packers skill-position player sustained a broken collarbone — other than quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who broke his left collarbone in 2013 and his right one in 2017 — it was Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Charles Woodson, who did it during Super Bowl XLV and again during the 2012 season. 

Woodson missed nine games that year, returning just in time for the playoffs.

While every injury is different, and Woodson confessed that year that he returned to action when he was deemed safe enough to play but not 100% healed, missing nine weeks would put Reed, who was injured in the Packers’ win over Washington last week, in position to return around the team’s Thanksgiving Day game at Detroit on Nov. 27.

The Packers will also be without Christian Watson for at least another two games, as Watson must remain on the physically unable to perform list for Sunday’s game at Cleveland and the Sept. 28 game at Dallas. After that, he’s eligible to have the team open a 21-day practice window after the bye week and start practicing around Oct. 6.

But at least the Packers knew they’d be starting the season without Watson, who tore the ACL in his right knee during last year’s regular-season finale against Chicago on Jan. 5.

In Reed’s case, the Packers were counting on the guy who led them in receptions and receiving yards in 2023 and 2024 to be their Swiss Army knife on offense, with his ability to line up in the slot and catch balls in traffic, line up outside and make plays down the field, and run jet sweeps and pop passes with a running back-like skillset.

“He’s kind of a sparkplug for us. He does a lot of different things,” head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier this week. “I just love the way he plays the game, the energy he brings on a daily basis. He’s tough. He’s gritty. We’re definitely going to miss him.

“But other guys, there’s going to be opportunities for some of these guys to step up and make some plays.”

There are other guys, and together they can pick up the slack by doing all the things Wicks can do individually.

Rookie third-round pick Savion Williams can be the gadget guy. Rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden can line up inside or outside and certainly is able to run downfield routes. Wicks and Romeo Doubs run intermediate routes as well as anyone. And Malik Heath, the best blocker of the bunch, showed he can also be a big-play guy with his 37-yard circus catch on the sideline in their win over the Commanders.

“I mean, when you’ve got a guy like ‘Bird’ and he goes down, it hurts us. But then again, we’re all in the league for a reason, and we all know stuff like this is going to happen,” Heath said. “When your opportunity is there, you have to make the most of it.”

Added Wicks: “We believe in everybody in our room. We know everybody in our room can make a play. We’ve got a ton of talent in our room.

“With ‘Bird’ being out, I think it gives more people the chance to step up and show what they can do. And I think once he gets back, we’re going to be on a roll and he’ll be able to step back in and just do what he do. [But] he’s a difference-maker. And it feels different without him around.”

Wicks said he expects Reed to still be around the team while sidelined because of his leadership responsibilities — “The leader Bird is, you can’t really [replicate] that with him not being here,” he said — but first, he needs to get over his surgery and the embarrassment of his video.

“I know he’s seen it, because we sent it to him. He knows what’s going on and that he’s all over the media,” Wicks said, laughing. “I’ve really talked to him every day [since the injury].

“He’s been in good spirits. He just believes in all of us. He knows we’re going to step up and make that play for the team and for him.”

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