Micah Parsons still isn’t headed back to the practice field this week, even though the Green Bay Packers have already cleared the main recovery checkpoints for his ACL rehab.
Parsons has been eligible to begin practicing for a few weeks now after opening the 2026 season on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Under the updated PUP rules, he still can’t be officially returned until at least the Week 5 game against the Chicago Bears, but the door to practice opened after Week 2.
That hasn’t changed the Packers’ approach. Parsons tore his ACL in Green Bay’s Week 15 game against the Denver Broncos last December, and he is now nine months removed from that injury.
That nine-month mark is the baseline Green Bay likes to use for ACL recoveries, and by that standard, the team is right where it wants to be. Still, head coach Matt LaFleur said Monday that Parsons will not practice in Week 4.
"No setbacks. It's just part of the process. He's got to get cleared," LaFleur told the media on Monday, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky.
Parsons has already floated a possible return date of Green Bay’s October 18 game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6, and that lines up with how the Packers have handled similar recoveries before. Christian Watson’s torn ACL return is one useful reference point: he was back on the practice field 19 days before Green Bay activated him to the active roster. Parsons is a different kind of athlete, so that same timeline may not be necessary if the Cowboys game is the target.
There is also a path for the Packers to get Parsons back into practice after Week 4’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which would give him two full weeks to build toward that Sunday Night Football matchup with Dallas. That possibility is on the table.
But the bigger question is why Parsons would feel any urgency at all.
Green Bay is 1-2, with losses to the New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons, and the team has not exactly looked like it’s in a hurry to inspire confidence. Through three weeks, the Packers have shown no heart or fight, at least by the view laid out in the source reporting, and Parsons is the kind of player who is known for bringing those traits himself.
He has also been clear that the bigger picture matters most. His recovery timeline is about helping the Packers in the long run, not chasing October wins.
Right now, Green Bay has not looked like a Super Bowl contender. In fact, the Packers look closer to a bottom-feeder than a playoff team.
That makes the Week 4 game against Tampa Bay feel like a natural pause point before anyone gets serious about Parsons’ return. If Green Bay beats the Buccaneers, the Packers could head into Week 5 against the Bears at 2-2.
If they lose, they’d be staring at 1-3, with defeats to Carson Wentz, Michael Penix Jr. and Jalon Daniels on the ledger. Baker Mayfield is out this week with a dislocated thumb, which only adds another wrinkle to the evaluation.
And if the Packers were to lose to Daniels, an undrafted free agent rookie quarterback, then the concern around Green Bay would only get louder.
In Other News...
Packers Captains Just Weighed In As Matt LaFleur Heat Builds
With the Packers sitting at 1-2 and trying to steady themselves before a Week Four meeting with the Buccaneers, the conversation around Green Bay has shifted quickly from expectations to urgency. Protection issues up front and another late-game stumble have put Matt LaFleur under an uncomfortable spotlight, but some of the locker rooms most visible voices tried to push back on the idea that the season is veering off course.
Xavier McKinney and Tucker Kraft both expressed confidence in LaFleur, saying the team trusts its coach and believes it can still improve. They also acknowledged the frustration that followed the Week Three loss, which has only sharpened the pressure outside the building, but inside the locker room the emphasis remains on getting the details cleaned up and finding a way to turn the season around before the noise grows louder. [Read more 🡒]
Tucker Kraft Tries To Walk Back A Frustrating Packers Moment
Tucker Kraft spent the days after the Packers loss to the Falcons trying to straighten out a postgame moment that landed poorly with part of the fan base. The tight end said his frustration was really aimed at the way the game unfolded, not at Green Bay supporters, and he admitted his wording could have been better after emotions spilled over in the aftermath.
Krafts clarification matters because the Packers are already under scrutiny for the product they put on the field, and the last thing the team needed was added noise around a defensive comment directed at its own crowd. He pointed to Christian Watsons response as a better example of how to handle the situation, a small but telling sign that Green Bays players know the line between venting frustration and turning it inward. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Love Now Has To Answer For A Packers Offensive Mess
Jordan Loves first three weeks have been a mix of promising numbers and obvious frustration, the kind of start that makes it hard to separate the quarterback from the offense around him. He has thrown for 844 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions, but the production has come with uneven efficiency and eight sacks, while Green Bay has had to work through injuries up front and a rushing attack that has not done enough to steady things.
Brent Sobleskis Week 3 grade of a D for Love against Atlanta only adds to the pressure on a unit that has looked out of sync at times. For the Packers, the bigger question now is not just whether Love can keep stacking up touchdowns, but whether he can keep answering for an offense that has too often made his job harder than it should be. [Read more 🡒]