Micah Parsons could be back in the Green Bay Packers’ lineup before the calendar flips deeper into November.
According to the Ringer’s Tom Pelissero, the star pass rusher is expected to return to practice next week and could make his 2026 debut in November, with Thanksgiving Eve against the Rams shaping up as the likeliest target date.
Parsons has been working back from a knee injury, and Green Bay has been waiting for the kind of impact he brought right away after arriving from Dallas. The Packers traded for Parsons from the Cowboys in August 2025 and then locked him into a record-setting four-year, $188 million deal. He wasted no time making his presence felt, piling up 12.5 sacks in 14 games during his first season in Green Bay.
That run ended in December when Parsons tore his ACL against the Denver Broncos. The injury knocked him out for the rest of the year and kept him sidelined for the Packers’ playoff loss to the Chicago Bears.
Even without him, though, Green Bay’s pass rush has stayed nasty. The Packers lead the NFL with 22 sacks, and they added six more in Thursday night’s 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers, with Bryce Young taking the punishment.
The defense has been rolling under new coordinator Jonathan Gannon, and the numbers back it up. Green Bay also leads the league with 10 interceptions, giving the unit a disruptive edge even before Parsons returns.
If the timetable holds, the Packers still have a couple of tough tests before Parsons could suit up against the Rams on Thanksgiving Eve. First comes a trip to Foxborough to face the New England Patriots, then a home game at Lambeau Field against the Minnesota Vikings, the NFL’s last unbeaten team. The 5-3 Packers will be hoping to get Parsons back into the mix before that stretch gets any tougher.
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