Micah Parsons’ return remains one of the biggest storylines hanging over the Green Bay Packers, and Brian Gutekunst just made the team’s expectations unmistakably clear.
Speaking to Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Packers general manager addressed Parsons while the star edge rusher continues working back from the torn ACL he suffered last year. Gutekunst didn’t sound like someone bracing for a long delay. He sounded confident.
"I have a lot of confidence," said Gutekunst. "We've seen so many guys come back from these ACLs before and play at such a high level.
He's a young guy, he's a little bit of a genetic freak, those guys tend to do very well. That's certainly our expectation."
That’s the kind of language that will naturally get attention, especially with Parsons’ recovery having been a constant offseason talking point. Both Parsons and the Packers have been firm that he won’t practice until nine months after surgery, and as that mark approaches, he remains on the team’s PUP list. That means he cannot play in Green Bay’s first four games.
Still, Gutekunst left the door open to something more optimistic than the most cautious timelines floating around. He had already suggested Parsons might be practicing before then, and he doubled down when talking to Dougherty.
"We'll see. He's going to be down the first four because of the [physically-unable-to-perform] rules, but we'll see once we get out of that time where he's at," said Gutekunst when it was mentioned that Parsons would be out for six to eight weeks.
When asked directly whether Parsons could be back sooner than six weeks, Gutekunst said he wouldn’t rule it out.
That matters because the Packers’ early schedule gives them a clean line of demarcation. Parsons is locked out of the first four games against the Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After that, Green Bay faces the Chicago Bears in Week 5 and the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6.
There is still obvious caution built into all of this. Coming back too early would be a mistake if Parsons isn’t fully ready.
But the message from the Packers is pretty clear: they believe he can return to a high level, and they aren’t talking like a team that has already written off an extended absence. If Parsons does get back sooner than expected, it will be because he and the team are both comfortable with where he is physically.
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