Reed’s Injuries

[Fosco33]

Presuming the medical staff are evaluating all options, one thing I haven’t seen discussed is why or why not do both surgeries now to fix both injuries.

Jayden Reed’s second year in Green Bay was supposed to be the breakout, speed in the slot, chemistry with Love, and a knack for turning quick routes into chunk plays. Instead, he’s now staring at a brutal double whammy: a Jones fracture in his foot and a freshly broken collarbone.

Let’s unpack what that means.

The Jones fracture, outside of the foot at the base of the fifth metatarsal, is a sneaky bad injury. That part of the bone doesn’t get great blood flow, which is why it can heal slow or not at all. Surgery, usually a screw down the bone, gets guys back faster, maybe in the 8–10 week range, and reduces the dreaded refracture risk. Non-surgical treatment can stretch much longer, with a boot, limited weight bearing, sometimes three months or more. Reed reportedly had been playing through this since camp, so it wasn’t displaced enough for immediate surgery. But every plant, every hard cut, is asking that bone to hold.

The collarbone, fractured on Thursday night vs. Washington, is getting priority. He’ll have surgery this week, likely plate and screws. For NFL wideouts, the return is usually 6–8 weeks if the healing is clean. Some guys come back around nine weeks looking like themselves. Others need closer to 12 before full contact.

Why not fix both at once? Two major surgeries mean doubling anesthesia, longer operative time, and higher risk of complications. Plus, the foot repair would limit his ability to use crutches or rehab the shoulder properly. Doctors usually stage injuries like this to manage risk and maximize overall recovery.

Stack them together. The collarbone sets the baseline. You can’t take contact until it heals. The foot is the wild card. Green Bay will say “6–8 weeks,” but reality may lean 10–12 before Reed is truly Reed again.

Question is, does he come back sharp late season, or are the Packers quietly bracing for a lost year?

[Joemailman]

Some have questioned, based on the fact that he hasn't had surgery, whether it actually is a Jones fracture. If it is, do we know when it happened? If it happened during the offseason, and not training camp, he might be well into the non-surgical recovery process.

[MadScientist]

If he got through 2+ weeks of practice and a game plus without reinjuring it, the surgery seems unnecessary, since he will have 8-12 weeks of rest for the collarbone. The fewer surgeries the better for a player, as every surgery does damage to the surrounding tissues and has infection and other risks.

[run pMc]

yeah I wondered about this, but I suspect after "just" needing to be in a boot for a few weeks etc. it's probably healed enough where a surgery isn't going to help at this point. I do think the extra rest will benefit his foot and help it heal.

Reed is a tough dude, but he's had a few injuries now. Longer term, I wonder about his durability.
If he is out for 8-10 weeks, he should be rested and ready to go for the final stretch of the season, that could really matter.

[CaptainKickass]

I'm gonna defer to the Packers medical staff - but it seems extremely reasonable to me, a rabid fan of this team, for Reed to have both procedures done now.

It's just fine
that I opine
while drinking wine
from time to time

[Fritz]

I say do them both and throw in a penis enlargement and a facelift while you’re at it. Fuck it, why not?

Hell, I don’t know. But I suspect this is a lost season for him. Hope Savion Williams is catching on to this offense and healing up.

Hope Crusty Watson is healing well.

[CaptainKickass]

I say do them both and throw in a penis enlargement and a facelift while you’re at it. Fuck it, why not?

I mean, I guess that's better than getting a Face Enlargement and a Penis Lift, right?


Also, I read somewhere that the reason not to do both now is because recovery time for the collarbone procedure is "weeks" but recovery for the foot procedure is "months". Nothing more specific sadly.

[texaspackerbacker]

I'm wondering if Joe Burrow's toe injury is similar to Reed's or different or more severe - different toe apparently.

[MadScientist]

I'm wondering if Joe Burrow's toe injury is similar to Reed's or different or more severe - different toe apparently.

Not even remotely. Reed's injury (Jones fracture) is not a toe injury at all, and comes from a twisting motion on the side of the foot, causing a bone to fracture. Burrows' is torn ligaments on the big to, so about as different as foot injuries could be.

[run pMc]

FYI, this is Year 3 of Jayden Reed, not year 2.
That detail aside, we don't know the exact nature of his injuries, just what they tell us publicly. If it made sense to do surgery on the foot I'm sure they would. By Week 9-10 we'll know a lot more about where he is (I'd think he'd at least be doing individual stuff by then)

What is concerning to me is the accumulation of injuries, particularly once he gets to next season and starts contract talks. He's a tough dude, but most smaller receivers who get hurt don't magically learn to stay on the field later in their career. Do you want to pay him $25M a year to average 12 games? He's a good (possibly great) player, but I'd be ok letting him walk, develop Golden, and keep Wicks instead.

[Fosco33]

FYI, this is Year 3 of Jayden Reed, not year 2.
That detail aside, we don't know the exact nature of his injuries, just what they tell us publicly. If it made sense to do surgery on the foot I'm sure they would. By Week 9-10 we'll know a lot more about where he is (I'd think he'd at least be doing individual stuff by then)

What is concerning to me is the accumulation of injuries, particularly once he gets to next season and starts contract talks. He's a tough dude, but most smaller receivers who get hurt don't magically learn to stay on the field later in their career. Do you want to pay him $25M a year to average 12 games? He's a good (possibly great) player, but I'd be ok letting him walk, develop Golden, and keep Wicks instead.

Of course good call on year 3.

When they did disclose the injury - didn’t they say he’d be on the report all season? Feels like they were set on limited practice all year and perhaps then surgery in off season?

For the collarbone - it could easily be 8 weeks and if they didn’t discuss doing both and just being out 10 weeks, I’d be shocked. M

Just figured it was a topic unexplored.

[run pMc]

For the Jones fracture injury, I think the assumption was he'd be on the injury report all year. He'd likely be limited/DNP often, just to rest the foot.
He was first reported in the boot, what, 5-6 weeks ago? I assume his time in a boot was for the early weeks of recovery and now it's pain management and making sure he doesn't make it worse.

Of course, it could be a 50/50 thing and he decided to play through it without surgery. I'd think that would be a bad move, he's got his 2nd contract to consider and wrecking his foot could wreck his career. Breaking his collarbone effectively forced the move to rest his foot.
Short-term it sucks for the WR room and the offense, long-term it might be a boon for them -- he should be motivated to get on the field and will have fresh legs for the 2nd half of the year. Could be a sparkplug for the offense, the rookies will be hitting a wall.

[Joemailman]

Presuming the medical staff are evaluating all options, one thing I haven’t seen discussed is why or why not do both surgeries now to fix both injuries.

Jayden Reed’s second year in Green Bay was supposed to be the breakout, speed in the slot, chemistry with Love, and a knack for turning quick routes into chunk plays. Instead, he’s now staring at a brutal double whammy: a Jones fracture in his foot and a freshly broken collarbone.

Let’s unpack what that means.

The Jones fracture, outside of the foot at the base of the fifth metatarsal, is a sneaky bad injury. That part of the bone doesn’t get great blood flow, which is why it can heal slow or not at all. Surgery, usually a screw down the bone, gets guys back faster, maybe in the 8–10 week range, and reduces the dreaded refracture risk. Non-surgical treatment can stretch much longer, with a boot, limited weight bearing, sometimes three months or more. Reed reportedly had been playing through this since camp, so it wasn’t displaced enough for immediate surgery. But every plant, every hard cut, is asking that bone to hold.

The collarbone, fractured on Thursday night vs. Washington, is getting priority. He’ll have surgery this week, likely plate and screws. For NFL wideouts, the return is usually 6–8 weeks if the healing is clean. Some guys come back around nine weeks looking like themselves. Others need closer to 12 before full contact.

Why not fix both at once? Two major surgeries mean doubling anesthesia, longer operative time, and higher risk of complications. Plus, the foot repair would limit his ability to use crutches or rehab the shoulder properly. Doctors usually stage injuries like this to manage risk and maximize overall recovery.

Stack them together. The collarbone sets the baseline. You can’t take contact until it heals. The foot is the wild card. Green Bay will say “6–8 weeks,” but reality may lean 10–12 before Reed is truly Reed again.

Question is, does he come back sharp late season, or are the Packers quietly bracing for a lost year?

You win! Reed did have surgery on both clavicle and foot.

j.reed11
@JaydenReed5

Successful foot & clavicle surgery thank you God