Last January, a month after Packers outside linebacker Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL, the five-time Pro Bowler expressed hope he would make his 2026 debut in Week 3 or 4. That would have meant returning in late September or the first week of October, but it is now clear Parsons will not make it back that early.
Speaking with Ryan Wood of USA Today and other reporters Wednesday, Parsons revealed he underwent a meniscus cleanup in addition to ACL surgery. Parsons added he will not consider coming back until he is at least nine months removed from the injury, which would point to a mid-October return in a best-case scenario. Speculatively, that could mean a Week 6 debut on Sunday, Oct. 18. The Packers happen to play Parsons’ former team, the Cowboys, in prime time that night.
The Cowboys and Parsons were unable to resolve a contract dispute last summer, leading to a late-August blockbuster trade with the Packers. The Cowboys parted with Parsons for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark, and Green Bay immediately handed the superstar a four-year, $188MM extension with $136MM guaranteed. Parsons lived up to the billing in his first 14 games as a Packer, during which he recorded 12.5 sacks and became the first player with a dozen-plus in each of his first five seasons. He also chipped in 79 pressures, 26 QB hits, 12 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.
Parsons went down in a Week 15 loss to Denver, where the Packers’ season began to unravel. After dropping the Broncos game, they lost out to finish 9-7-1. While the Packers still held on for a wild-card berth and jumped out to a 21-3 halftime lead over the archrival Bears, they collapsed in the second half in a 31-27 loss. Their Parsons-less defense managed just one sack against quarterback Caleb Williams.
With Parsons likely to spend the first several weeks of 2026 on the reserve/PUP list, the Packers will have to lean on other edge defenders such as Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox and fourth-round rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton. The Packers still have around $25.80MM in cap space, giving them room for at least one noteworthy pass-rushing addition if they want to go that route. Cameron Jordan, Joey Bosa, Von Miller, Jadeveon Clowney, Leonard Floyd, Haason Reddick and Kyle Van Noy are among the established edge players still available in free agency.
No need to rush him back and have him be half effective. The team needs to make a move for a veteran pass rusher to play while he is out and just in case LVN continues to be a bust.
I think that is quite possible… the Sweat smoke is real. Cards are asking for a 3 and Packers are telling them a 4.
If he does he won’t finish the year. He’ll be back on IR. Works for me.
… this doesn’t even make sense.
Bearmeat- It’s pretty simple and straightforward. Is that what’s confusing to you? It’s too simple? If he comes back in 9 months he will just trash it again and end up on IR. I guess some people need everything spelled out for them.
No I understood what you were saying. Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear enough: there is no correlation between coming back at 9 months or 9.5 months and re injury. None. You are wildly incorrect.
Clowney, Joey Bosa, even Reddick would be my pick before taking on big salary like Sweat.
No knock on Sweat, just don’t want to give up draft picks and spend big money at the same time.
That’s pretty wishful thinking on his part.
No. It’s 9 months after the injury. He was at 5 months on May 29. Right on schedule. Barring a setback, he will be on PUP to start the year, start practicing before week 3, and be playing vs your band of merry fools week 5 at home.
Parsons is a stud, but I don’t see him being back to 100% until week 1 of 2027. Still should be disruptive in ’26, but maybe not All-pro level like we are accustomed.
We will see.
Would be a great place for a career comeback from Reddick. Hasnt been the same player since leaving the Eagles. Does he still want to play?
This is going to be a pretty pedantic comment, so apologies to the columnist. But still…
Since the context of this article is Parsons and, by extension, the Packers defensive performance with and without him on the field, it’s not really accurate nor fair to lay the wilcard collapse at the feet of the defense. Packers defense were dominant through the first three quarters, holding the Bears offense to under 200 yards. It was the Packers offense that collapsed, with questionable coaching/playcalling from Lafleur and costly on-field mistakes by Love. They couldn’t stay on the field long enough to give the defense a blow to recover themselves, so the defense was pretty exhausted by the time the 4th quarter started.
Having Parsons definitely would’ve helped, but it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. Caleb Williams is a 4th quarter magician, and the team knows it and rises to the occasion with Caleb under center. Keep in mind, even though the Packers defense gave up a ton of 4th quarter points, it’s not like they stopped getting pressure on Caleb. That amazing 4th & 8 pass he made to save the Bears season had a Packers defender hanging on his leg. The Packers D just didn’t have the strength or the legs to contain Williams in the pocket or hang with Bears receivers, tight ends, and RBs. That was just one of those games where a star player takes over and wills their team to finish on top.
Heh, games plural actually. Just recalled that magical OT win the Bears had over the Packers just a few weeks earlier.
“Costly on field mistakes by Love.” Um. Did you watch the game? Love was awesome all day. Much better than Caleb, actually. Yes. The defense collapsed. Yes, the Packers offensive line collapsed. Yes. There were two WR errors on the last drive by Reed and Watson to prevent a Packers walk off.
Love was the best player on the field that whole game.
PS: The glazing by Bears fans on Williams, who is not a good QB at this point, is friggin hilarious. The Packers had three blue chip players out for both the Bears lucky wins. If any of them play, the Packers don’t lose either of those wacky games vs Chicago. GB was the better team last year, and they’ll be the better team this year too.
@Bearmeat
Caleb was basically just a rookie last year. If anything, that one year with Eberflus set him back. (I still can’t stop being angry they allowed Eberflus anywhere near Caleb). Williams has *so much room* for improvement, and that’s some of the best evidence at how great he can be, and is. That Williams can still be so raw at his position, but still pull it all together and shine when the team needs him most- even though he’s been playing not so great up ’til that point- it reflects the kind of leadership and talent typical to great QBs.
Criticizing Bears fans for getting excited about that is pretty silly.
Also silly: thinking because your team had some injuries invalidates your losses. Bears had injuries too. Their defense was decimated by them all year long. But they didn’t use that as an excuse, and it didn’t stop them from putting the kibosh on the Packers offense and help secure two masterful comeback wins.
Yeah. We will see. I see a poor pocket presence and inability to read the field combined with poor mechanics leading to a sub 60% completion mark and way below average CPOE and ypa. Those are pretty sticky marks year to year.
the most delusional, know-it-all on here. Love is 1-3 in playoffs. Packers running it back with Lafleur is great news for all NFC foes. Jacobs beats women apparently. Business as usual. Packers got worse this offseason and you know it. Keep dreaming about Caleb at night kid
Tell us you don’t know ball without saying you don’t know ball.
Point one:
“qB wInZ” 😂🤡🧸👎
Point two:
“Packers got worse.” Again. Clown talk.
Oh my yes, I did watch the game. It’s a perpetual source of entertainment. I may watch it again tonight.
I recall a couple delay of games Love took, including one right after a time out, in the fourth quarter. There were miscommunications with his center. Love just didn’t take control of the game like Caleb did. He looked detached from events. Love’s first half was fantastic, his second half was the opposite of that. I put more blame on Lafleur for that loss than Love, but if you want to be a starting QB on a winning team, being a passive member just ain’t gonna cut it. And keep in mind, I say that as someone who thinks Love is a solid QB. I respect the Packers for developing him the right way, giving him time to grow into his role, and I expect he and Caleb are going to be the cream of the crop in the NFC North for many years to come.
The defensive unit was the “best player” on the field that whole game. However, if it was Love, that kind of highlights why the Packers weren’t up to the task.
I have not rewatched either of those atrocities. Dumb luck and a gag job. Flush it and move on.
Do you mean the third string center? Those delays were on him. Understandable really. On the road. Playoffs. Not expecting to play. They weren’t on Love.
Love was excellent all game. Qb wins and Subjective nonsense aside. Love was objectively way the heck better than Caleb. Anyway. Moving on.
lol that’s one obstinate center, even with Love screaming at him to snap the ball, snap it before the play clock hits zero, that darn third string center just wouldn’t snap the ball to Love, who was clearly aware of the play clock each time and not looking vacantly around the field while getting his team set… twice.
Both Love and Williams are absolutely mid at best. The fact that Bearmeat and Chicago expat and whomever the f are still talking about it just makes my point. Niether will ever see a SB.
Haters parade on line one… lol