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In reality, if the Green Bay Packers want to be legitimate NFC contenders next season, they need star passer Micah Parsons — who tore his ACL in December of last season — to be at 100 percent.
How close is he to this precise status?
Parsons revealed to reporters Wednesday that it will take at least four months for him to return to play, via ESPN. That likely means he would start the 2026 NFL season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, ruling him out for the first four games of the year.
“The goal for me is to finish the season… the goal has always been [to be healthy for the] playoffs,” Parsons told reporters Wednesday.
If Parsons is on the PUP list, he will be out for the Packers’ games against the Minnesota Vikings (Week 1), New York Jets (Week 2), Atlanta Falcons (Week 3) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 4). If Parsons is out for an additional period, he could miss an important divisional game against the Chicago Bears in Week 5 and a possible revenge game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6.
Before tearing his ACL, Parsons totaled 12.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and 41 combined tackles in 14 games during his first season with the Packers, who traded defensive tackle and three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark and two first-round picks to the Cowboys to reach Parsons and sign him to a four-year extension worth $186 million last August.
Micah Parsons could miss facing his former team, the Cowboys, if he remains on the PUP list for more than four weeks. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Parsons, a Pro Bowler in each of his five seasons in the NFL (2021-25), recorded more than 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons in the sport and earned his third career All-Pro honor in 2025.
Two months after tearing his ACL, Parsons told our Ben Arthur that he initially felt like “super nothing” after suffering the injury. However, Parsons said he ultimately found himself in an “extremely good” headspace. Parsons also made a big proclamation during this conversation.
“Everyone will probably say, ‘Was that guy hurt?’ “I’m going to go out there and be the best player on the field,” Parsons told Arthur.
As for Green Bay’s defense last season, it ranked 11th in points allowed (21.2 per game), 12th in passing yards allowed (194.1 per game), 12th in yards allowed (311.8 per game), 18th in rushing yards allowed (117.7 per game) and tied for 20th in sacks (36.0). But the Packers lost defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who left to become head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and traded Rashan Gary to the Cowboys.
Prior to Wednesday’s news, our Ralph Vacchiano had the Packers ranked 14th in his latest power rankings and placed them at Tier 4 of his contender tiers.
The Packers were eliminated by the Bears in the NFC wild-card round last season, marking the second straight year they were sent home in the first round. They lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round the previous season (2024).
