Micah Parsons says he has 4 months left in ACL recovery; Packers pass rusher on track for October return
On locker clean-out day this past January, Green Bay Packers star pass rusher Micah Parsons told reporters that, realistically, he'd miss the early part of the 2026 season while working his way back to the field from the torn left ACL that cut his 2025 campaign short.
A bit more than five months later, that return-to-play timeline is a bit clearer; Week 1 is now all but certainly out of the question for Parsons, who said he's five months into a nine-month rehabilitation process.
Although Parsons suffered the season-ending injury in a Week 15 road loss to the Denver Broncos on Dec. 14 last year, he didn't have surgery on his knee until Dec. 29. He also had a meniscus procedure, as reported by ESPN's Rob Demovsky and The Athletic's Matt Schneidman on Wednesday.
"Just passed my fifth month on May 29th, so extremely happy where we're at and the direction that I'm going," Parsons said on Wednesday during Packers OTAs, via Schneidman.
"So, obviously, got four more months to go."
Even if Parsons re-entered the lineup exactly after those four months, in other words following Sept. 29, the soonest he could play would be Week 4, when the Packers head to Tampa Bay to play the Buccaneers on Oct. 4. But that hypothetical, of course, doesn't account for a potential ramp-up of sorts.
Notably, Green Bay will host the NFC North rival Chicago Bears in Week 5 on Oct. 11.
Play 2026 Soccer Pick 'Em with FOX One and make your picks for the world's biggest soccer tournament
Parsons is coming off an impressive first season with the Packers. Green Bay acquired the 2021 No. 12 overall pick just 10 days before its season opener. He signed a four-year, $188 million deal with the team, including a reported $136 million of guaranteed money, that made him, at the time, the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
The Penn State product arrived via one of the more seismic trades in NFL history. It followed his infamous contract standoff with Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who sent Parsons to the Packers for three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and a pair of first-round picks.
Parsons lived up to expectations in Green Bay, stacking 12.5 sacks in 14 games. By that point of the season, he had accounted for a third of the Packers' pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. His 20.7% pressure rate in 2025 was the third best of his career, per NGS.
He wound up earning the fourth All-Pro honor of his five-year career, including his third as a member of the first team. Plus, he was named a Pro Bowler for the fifth time.
The game in which Parsons went down marked the first of five straight the Packers lost to end the season, including their wild-card defeat to the Bears in the playoffs.
Parsons said Wednesday that he's started running on the AlterG treadmill the past two weeks.
He's seeing the big picture as he patiently works his way back to 100%.
"I think the goal has always just been not right now but longevity with my career here, and I think they want that approach," Parsons explained, via Schneidman.
"And we have a pretty strong nine-month rule. Just through the research and the data, there's no good outcomes for players coming back early from ACL, especially if you had other things that had to get fixed up. So it's just all about completing the rehab to the best of our ability and then seeing where we're at from there."
