Micah Parsons: Oct. 18 Return for Packers' Bout With Cowboys is 'Very Realistic'
He still has a ways to go in his rehab, but Micah Parsons and his Hollywood script are eyeing a mid-October return from a torn ACL.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — It’d behoove you not to put anything past Micah Parsons.
The Green Bay Packers’ All-Pro pass rusher is still rehabbing the torn anterior cruciate ligament he sustained Dec. 14 against the Denver Broncos. Still, he’s already eyeing a mid-October return.
As if it were out of a Hollywood movie script, that’d position him for the Oct. 18 primetime clash against his former team at Lambeau Field: The Dallas Cowboys.
“Yeah, I think it’s very realistic,” Parsons said of his chances Tuesday. “Me and the staff—we’ve got to put the work in. We’ve got to get to the point where I’m feeling great, and we all say, ‘Micah, you’re in a really good phase.’
“Is it possible? Yes. I wouldn’t say it’s not possible.”
The Packers have a strict nine-month rule for players returning from ACL injuries. They aren’t permitted to practice until they’ve surpassed the nine-month benchmark from the day they had surgery. There could be some unwritten flexibility with that rule, though. Tight end Tucker Kraft, who tore his ACL on Nov. 2, didn’t undergo surgery until later that month, but he returned to practice July 31, just days before the nine-month anniversary of his injury.
Parsons didn’t have surgery on his knee until more than two weeks after his injury on Dec. 29, setting his nine-month recovery to culminate in late September. Thanks to new rules being implemented this year, players who begin the regular season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list can begin practicing after just two games, opening their 21-day window to be activated to the 53-man roster. In the past, players had to miss a minimum of four games before being eligible to have their window opened. This new rule expedites the process.
A return against the Cowboys—their second clash with the Packers in as many seasons—would be a tremendous story for Parsons on a personal level. A former No. 12 overall pick of the Cowboys in 2021, Parsons spent four seasons in Dallas before being traded to Green Bay last summer in exchange for a pair of first-round picks and nose tackle Kenny Clark.
A storybook chapter in Parsons’ story be damned, that doesn’t mean the Packers are going to become reckless in managing his return. He was a significant investment for the franchise—in terms of both draft picks and financially after he signed a four-year deal with the Packers worth $186 million—and his long-term outlook will remain at the forefront of any decisions team brass makes. That includes potentially limiting his snaps—not just while he’s being eased back into the lineup, but even moving forward.
Parsons attributed his injury to a lack of training camp last year during his holdout with the Cowboys, managing a back injury early in the season, and cumulative wear-and-tear placed upon his body across 14 games while serving as the focal point of the success of the Packers’ pass rush.
The 27-year-old doesn’t believe workload management will be necessary for his career moving forward, saying, “If we’re going to go the route of the NBA guys, like, ‘Oh, they need to play so many snaps or games,’ I’m in the wrong sport.”
In Parsons’ eyes, he’d much rather take advantage of what he can do during his peak years in the league as opposed to playing late into his 30s.
“I’d rather maximize my eight, nine, 10 years I have in this game and know I put everything out on the line than have 15 years and say I was only good for a couple because I tried to play the longevity game and not go all out,” Parsons said.
“I’d rather have the peak, for real. And if I do play less snaps, I fully trust that a bunch of these guys in the locker room can uphold the standard when I do get breaks.”