Green Bay still cannot say when Jayden Reed will take another snap. Before Thursday night’s home game against Atlanta, NFL on Prime insider James Palmer told Charissa Thompson that evaluations of the receiver’s neck injury continued through the week and that a season-ending result remains possible.
“I’m told evaluations continued throughout the course of this week, and there is no timeline for his return,” Palmer said. “It potentially being season-ending is still in play.” He raised the same concern on X while discussing the Packers’ battered offensive line
Injuries on the Packers OL are a real concern. They feel this group can get it done, but they can’t sustain anymore injuries. Also WR Jayden Reed is dealing with a neck injury. What’s the timeline? pic.twitter.com/G8myDwSvJk
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) September 24, 2026
Reed went down on Green Bay’s second offensive play Sunday at MetLife Stadium. He caught a short swing pass from Jordan Love, took a hit to the helmet from Jets linebacker Demario Davis, and collapsed. Trainers strapped him to a spine board and carted him off while teammates stood on the field and watched, a scene detailed by Fox News Outkick.
Matt LaFleur said afterward that Reed had movement in all extremities and would stay overnight in the New York area for observation. The Packers still won, 20-17 in overtime, on Trey Smack’s 26-yard kick — the finish recorded in the ESPN recap. Reed finished the night with no further snaps and the team already down right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele to a knee injury that later ended Bako-Bewele’s season.
By Tuesday, Reed was back in Green Bay and meeting with doctors. LaFleur corrected early reports that the problem was Reed’s back. The injury is in the neck. Asked whether Reed could play again in 2026, the coach refused to guess. “It’s way too early for that,” LaFleur said, a line carried by Packers Wire. He added that Reed was in good spirits and “doing OK,” with more testing still underway.
That caution matches how Green Bay has handled Reed since last year. He appeared in only seven games in 2025 after surgeries on a broken collarbone and a fractured foot, posting 19 catches for 207 yards and one touchdown, per the club’s own player log on Packers.com. The Packers still signed him in April to a three-year extension worth $50.25 million in new money, with $20 million guaranteed, first reported by ESPN and later confirmed in an NFL.com write-up.
The football problem is larger than one missing target. Reed is the slot piece who gives LaFleur motion, option routes, and a second layer after the catch. Without him last season, Green Bay’s offense flattened. LaFleur called him “a juice guy” who had a lot on his plate and said the staff saw what his absence did to the scheme, comments gathered by Channel 3000. Skyy Moore and Bo Melton are next in line. Neither has Reed’s combination of burst and alignment flexibility.
| Season | Games | Rec | Yds | TD | Availability note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | 19 | 207 | 1 | Collarbone and foot surgeries |
| 2026 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 0 | Exited Week 2 with neck injury |
The line in front of Jordan Love is already thin. Bako-Bewele is done for the year with a torn patellar tendon. Guard Aaron Banks has been dealing with knee and toe issues. The official Week 3 report listed Reed as a non-participant with a neck injury heading into the Falcons game, the same sheet that showed multiple linemen limited or out (Packers.com).
Palmer’s Thursday update does not diagnose the neck. It only says the medical work is unfinished and that sitting out the rest of 2026 has not been ruled out. That is reported information, not a team announcement. Green Bay has not placed Reed on injured reserve and has not given a week-to-week or multi-month window.
A long absence would push his next real contribution toward 2027, the second year of the new deal. That is analysis, not a roster ruling. Neck injuries force teams to move slowly because the next hit is the one they cannot risk. LaFleur has already said the staff will adjust. The tape from Sunday showed why they have no choice. Reed never got past the second play. Love spent the rest of a tight overtime game without the receiver who was supposed to stress the middle of the field.
Until the tests close, the honest status is the one Palmer delivered: no date, and a full season on the table.
