Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson makes a catch in front of Detroit Lions cornerback Carlton Davis III during the second half in Detroit on Dec. 5. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, file)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — While so much of the focus of Sunday’s prime-time matchup between Green Bay and Pittsburgh has been on Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers facing his former team, Christian Watson plans on it being a special night for him, too.

The Packers wide receiver expects to return to game action for the first time in nearly 10 months.

“That’s my plan,” Watson said. “I say it every week — obviously just leaving it up to the trainers — but my goal and my plan is to play this week.”

If his plan comes to fruition, it will mark Watson’s first game action since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the Packers’ Jan. 5 regular-season finale against the Chicago Bears.

“A lot of it is just getting reacclimated,” said head coach Matt LaFleur of Watson before Friday’s practice. “You’re talking about a long layoff without football, just trying to build him up so he can handle the demands of what are going to be placed upon him on game day.”

The Packers opened Watson’s 21-day practice window on Oct. 6, when they returned from their bye week, shortly after signing him to a one-year extension that includes $11 million in new money and keeps him under contract with the Packers for next season, alleviating concerns he might have had about trying to rush back to game action and earn a new contract.

The team could wait until after Sunday night’s game to activate him from the physically unable to perform list. Watson, whose in-practice workload has steadily increased over the past two weeks, believes his surgically repaired knee is ready.

In fact, the 2022 second-round pick believes his knee has been ready. Watson was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.

“I’d say I could’ve played last week, too, to be honest,” Watson said of the Packers’ 27-23 win at Arizona on Sunday. “But, obviously, (I’ve) got to make sure I’m hearing everybody’s opinions on everything and being as smart as possible about it.”

There’s no question that Watson brings a different dimension to the Packers’ offense.

He finished last season with 29 receptions for a career-high 620 yards and two touchdowns, with his 21.4-yard per-catch average leading the team and ranking second in the NFL.

With rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden having emerged in recent weeks, Watson’s return would give the Packers two wide receivers with elite speed to stretch defenses and open up other aspects of the offense.

Golden, however, is also listed as questionable for Sunday with a hip injury.

The final call on whether Watson is ready to go will be made by the medical staff. And while the Steelers’ home field at Acrisure Stadium has drawn criticism from players in recent weeks, Watson insisted that the field conditions shouldn’t matter in his comeback.

“When I’m at 100 percent, obviously, in years past, I wasn’t thinking about the surfaces,” Watson said. “If I’m worried about the turf, then honestly, I probably wouldn’t be playing, anyway. My goal is to feel 100 percent, so that’s not really something that we’re thinking about.”

Green Bay (4-1-1) at Pittsburgh (4-2), Sunday, 7:15 p.m., NBC

BetMGM line: Packers by 3.

Against the spread: Packers 2-4; Steelers 3-3

Series record: Packers lead 20-17.

Last meeting: Steelers beat Packers 23-19 on Nov. 12, 2023.

Last week: Packers beat Cardinals 27-23; Steelers lost to Bengals 33-31.

Packers offense: overall (14), rush (15), pass (12), scoring (7)

Packers defense: overall (6), rush (2), pass (15), scoring (10)

Steelers offense: overall (25), rush (26), pass (19), scoring (11)

Steelers defense: overall (19), rush (17), pass (31), scoring (28)

Turnover differential: Packers even. Steelers plus-5.

Packers player to watch

Aaron Rodgers’ first matchup with the Packers after winning four MVPs and a Super Bowl title in Green Bay naturally will put a spotlight on QB Jordan Love, the guy who was selected in the first round of the 2020 draft to eventually take over for him. After waiting behind Rodgers for three years, Love has led Green Bay to playoff berths in each of his first two seasons as the Packers’ starting quarterback. He has completed 69.3% of his passes for 1,438 yards with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions this season.

Steelers player to watch

QB Aaron Rodgers. He spent his first 18 seasons in Green Bay, where he won four MVP awards and led the Packers to their fourth Super Bowl title before making way for current Green Bay starter Jordan Love. The 41-year-old Rodgers is hardly playing like someone in his 21st season in the league. He has 14 touchdown passes through six games, putting him on pace to break Pittsburgh’s single-season touchdown pass mark of 34 set by Ben Roethlisberger in 2018.

Key matchup

Steelers LT Broderick Jones against Packers DE Micah Parsons. Jones, in his first season as the full-time left tackle, took a significant step forward in his development a couple of weeks ago when he helped hold Cleveland star Myles Garrett without a sack. The challenge may be even tougher against Parsons, who appears to be finding his groove after being traded to Green Bay from Dallas on the eve of the regular season. Parsons sacked Arizona’s Jacoby Brissett three times last week in the Packers’ comeback victory.

Key injuries

Packers: DE Lukas Van Ness (foot) will miss a second straight game and WR Dontayvion Wicks (calf) also has been ruled out. DT Devonte Wyatt (knee) and K Brandon McManus (quadriceps) have missed two straight games. They’re listed as questionable. DL Warren Brinson (hamstring), WR Matthew Golden (hip) and WR Christian Watson (knee) also are questionable.

Steelers: WR Calvin Austin III is expected to return after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury. S Miles Killebrew, Pittsburgh’s longtime special teams captain, will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered in a victory over Cleveland on Oct. 12. C Zach Frazier (calf), LB Malik Harrison (knee) and reserve QB Will Howard (hand) are questionable.