A lot of pundits had the Green Bay Packers matchup against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 circled as the date edge rusher Micah Parsons would officially return. Before the regular season started, the Packers placed Parsons on the PUP list, which required him to miss four weeks. But with two weeks of practice, a return on October 18 seemed plausible.
However, Parsons has yet to return to practice. Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters Monday the team is still waiting for doctor approval for the edge rusher to get on the field. Once on the field, Parsons can begin a ramp-up period to get ready to play in a game.
It’s been a slower process than some initially thought it could be. But Parsons emphasized on the latest episode of his podcast, “The Edge” that it’s all part of the plan.
“The biggest thing that people worried about with me, they’re like, ‘Man, why ain’t he back yet?'” Parsons said Wednesday, via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. “If the Super Bowl was this week, I’m playing in the Super Bowl. But it’s just about me making sure I have all the small things fixed first.
“What a lot of people don’t figure out is it’s not just the ACL. It’s like, why did the ACL happen? What was weak? Because it all works together. It’s a chain. And throughout the history of ACL (injuries), they notice if you come back early, there tends to be an overcompensation injury on the other side.
“We just going to make sure everything is right before. Because everyone knows, it’s like, what’s the point of getting me back for four weeks and then next thing you know, my groin’s bothering me.”
Packers’ Micah Parsons Addresses His Lingering Absence
As a Packers fan or Parsons supporter, it’s more than fair to be disappointed he isn’t ready to play against the Cowboys. The fact the edge rusher isn’t even practicing yet indicates that he might not be ready to return until after Halloween.
That was probably one of the more worst-case scenarios presented through the media when discussing Parsons’s potential return timeline over the summer.
But it’s also not super shocking the Packers are approaching the edge rusher’s return with caution. It’s been rather clear throughout the process that that was going to be the case.
Parsons indirectly indicated the cautious approach they are taking with him, admitting that if this week was the Super Bowl, he would be playing. But it’s not. There’s still a lot of season left, and the Packers don’t want Parsons to suffer a setback when he returns.
It also helps that the Packers aren’t in a dire situation anymore. Three weeks ago, Green Bay fell to 1-2 with an awful home loss to the Atlanta Falcons. But since then, the Packers have steadied themselves to move above the .500 mark.
Moreover, Green Bay’s young edge rushers, Lukas Van Ness and Dani Dennis-Sutton, have started playing well. Van Ness has 2.5 sacks with four tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits in five games. Dennis-Sutton had a sack, two tackles for loss in the blowout win against the Bears. He also had two quarterback hits and a pass defense.
Obviously, Parsons will remain Green Bay’s top edge rusher. But the defense is playing well enough to survive without him. That gives the Packers all the more reason to be cautious with Parsons’s return.
Packers’ Micah Parsons Speaks out on Injury Recovery Timeline