Packers provide positive Jayden Reed update after scary neck injury vs. Jets

Former Michigan State star Jayden Reed simply cannot catch a break these days.

After suffering a season-ending injury early in 2025, Reed worked hard to get back into playing shape for the 2026 season and he was determined to get back to his 2024 form when he caught 55 passes for 857 yards and six touchdowns.

Unfortunately, his “comeback” may have been cut short on Sunday afternoon after he went down with yet another scary injury. This time, the injury looked much, much worse.

Reed caught a pass and went down with his back to a Jets defender and he was hit and lost control of the ball and didn’t get up. The hit didn’t look bad, but it must have been in the worst possible spot because he never got up and was instead carted off the field in what became one of the scariest moments of Week 2.

A neuroscientist on Twitter provided his insight on the injury after it happened.

It initially looked like the second hit was the one that knocked him out, but the replay showed that it could have been the first hit and the second just worsened the severity.

Reed laid there without moving for a while and was eventually carted away. Everyone’s minds immediately turned to worst-case scenario, but the Packers provided a much-needed positive update on Sunday evening.

Obviously the initial fear after a scary hit like this where there’s little to no movement seen before he’s being carted off the field is paralyzation. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case since he has feeling and movement in his extremities, but this is an injury that could unfortunately sideline him for a long, long time.

If it’s a neck injury, that’s not something that anyone is going to try and mess with any time soon so he could be out months (purely speculation, nothing concrete) and even if it’s “just” a concussion, he could miss extended time pending its severity.

This is never something you want to see on a football field and it’s why Guardian Caps are becoming more popular among players every year. Don’t be surprised if Reed sports one when he returns.

Jayden Reed’s setbacks are preventing his career from taking off

Reed’s NFL career has unfortunately been marred by injuries.

After two healthy seasons to begin his NFL career, totaling 1,650 yards and 14 touchdowns on 119 receptions, Reed was beginning to look like a budding star in Green Bay. Then, after a slow start to his third season with 19 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown, he suffered a broken collarbone seven games into the year. He went on to miss the final 10 games of 2025.

Now, it looks like he might miss extended time once again which means that through two seasons, there’s a good chance that he finishes by playing a total of nine games.

For a guy who was always on the field for Michigan State during the 2020-2022 stretch, it’s frustrating that he can’t seemingly stay healthy these days. Let’s hope that these injuries are just outliers in what will turn out to be a lengthy NFL career, but this latest one was really scary and it could very well be career-altering.

Fortunately, he also provided a positive update on Sunday evening, posting to his own social media that he’s “doing much better” and that he appreciates all the prayers and support.

Hopefully he can return from this injury and get back to that 2023 or 2024 form where he was on the verge of becoming the Packers’ WR1 and it’s why he’s been able to stick around when the receiver room in Green Bay had undergone several major changes.

Fingers crossed that he’s back out there and running routes as a healthy wideout in no time, but this is something that the Packers are probably going to want to treat with caution.

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