3:53pm: Head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed Parsons is not ready to practice, but he is getting closer (via Ryan Wood of USA Today). “He’s a physical specimen, he’s a creature of nature for sure, and sometimes you’ve got to make sure your body — everything is just in sync,” LaFleur said. “You don’t want one leg to be that much stronger than the other leg.”
2:45pm: The Packers have overcome major health issues to win three of their first five games and keep pace in the NFC playoff race this season. While the team is dealing with injuries to several important players – including right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, receiver Jayden Reed and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper – superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons is clearly the most valuable member of the group.
Parsons, who is still working back from the torn ACL and meniscus he suffered last December, has been on the reserve/PUP list all season. The perennial All-Pro and Pro Bowler was eligible to return to practice after Week 2, but that still hasn’t occurred yet. Parsons also looks unlikely to practice this week, as sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN that the Packers do not expect to open his 21-day window yet.
After cruising to a 31-7 victory over NFC North rival Chicago in Week 5, Green Bay is preparing to face 2-3 Dallas this Sunday night – a date Parsons once pointed to for a potential 2026 debut. It would have made for intriguing prime-time TV to see Parsons return against the Cowboys, who traded him to the Packers amid a heated contract standoff in August 2025, but it does not appear that will be in the cards. A recent report left open the possibility that Parsons might not play until November, though Schefter notes there is still hope he will come back this month.
Even without Parsons and Cooper, who went down with a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 4, Green Bay’s defense feasted on Sunday. Facing Bears backup quarterbacks Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum, the Packers allowed 246 yards, forced five turnovers, and racked up nine QB hits and four sacks.
The Packers’ Jonathan Gannon-coordinated defense ranks in the top half of the league in sacks (seventh), total yards (eighth), EPA per play (ninth) and scoring (tied for 15th), though the unit has hardly faced a murderers’ row of opposing signal-callers. With Jared Goff (twice), Bryce Young, Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, Caleb Williams and C.J. Stroud among the passers on Green Bay’s schedule from Week 7 onward, Parsons’ return will be all the more critical to the team’s playoff chances.