Green Bay Packers star edge rusher Micah Parsons has not quite been cleared to return to football activities. However, that is not stopping him from warning the NFL about what is about to happen once he does become fully healthy.
Parsons talked to reporters at training camp and had a clear message. Do not worry about the knee or Parsons, but rather worry about how Parsons is going to look when he gets back.
Parsons made it clear that this is in relation to his timetable. The concern should not be when he gets back because whether it is Week 5, 6, or 7 is not going to matter. That is a short-term concern, when the real concern is how good he will be when he gets back. It is true that if Parsons returns a week later than expected but put up two sacks in his first game back, no one will remember the timeline.
Green Bay Packers Edge Rusher Micah Parsons Warns NFL He is About to Let Out His Anger
GettyMicah Parsons #1 of the Green Bay Packers
Parsons suffered his ACL injury on December 14. The Packers have been adamant that they do not let anyone return from a serious injury like that until they have been nine months removed from the injury. So, the earliest Parsons will return is September 14. That would be right around the second week of the NFL season.
It will take Parsons a few weeks to get going and he might not even be a full time practice participant once he first gets back on the field. So, the early timeline is that he will return after a couple of weeks of practice. That would put him around Week 6 or 7.
Parsons and the Packers happen to face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. Considering that is the team that drafted him and then traded him, he would obviously like to get back in the lineup before that game. However, he cannot guarantee that right now.
Packers Need Edge Help Without Micah Parsons
There is a lot of competition in the Packers edge rusher room without Parsons. The team has Lukas Van Ness, who has been up and down at training camp. Then, they have a lot of depth options competing to fill out the room.
Barryn Sorrell has been getting a lot of the work next to Van Ness with the first team. However, he is a mid-round rookie who only played in 17% of the team’s snaps during his rookie season. They also have Brenton Cox, but he is entering year four, and last year he was only on the field for 7% of the defensive snaps. He is more of a depth piece.
Colin Oliver is starting to make noise in his second season as well. However, he is viewed as a pass rush specialist who would struggle to hold up on run defense downs. Dani Dennis-Sutton closes out the players likely to make the team. He is a rookie who was taken in the fourth round.
They have options, but none of them stand out right now.
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