will not practice this week as the prepare for Sunday night’s high-profile matchup against the . The star edge rusher is not expected to return to the practice field, with uncertainty about exactly when Parsons will return from his knee injury, even as the hope still remains that it will be this month.
The absence removes the biggest individual storyline from a game that had been circled for months. Parsons was traded from the Dallas Cowboys to the Green Bay Packers before the 2025 season and signed a four-year, $188 million extension. Sunday would have marked his second meeting against his former team after last year’s 40-40 overtime tie in Dallas.
Micah Parsons, 27, has been out since tearing his ACL in December during a 34-26 loss to the . The injury ended a strong debut season in which he posted 12.5 sacks, 41 tackles (12 for loss), 27 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and one pass defensed across 14 games (13 starts). He earned his fifth Pro Bowl nod and third first-team All-Pro selection.
Head coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday that the team is moving carefully through the final stages of the process. “As soon as they give us the green light, he’ll be out there,” LaFleur said. “That hasn’t happened yet, but I think we’re getting closer.”
LaFleur noted that returning from an ACL tear requires extensive evaluation. “There is a lot of testing that goes on before a player returns from a major injury like an ACL tear,” he said. Strength balance between both legs remains a key focus. “You don’t want one leg to be that much stronger than the other leg,” LaFleur said.
On his podcast “The Edge,” made clear he has no interest in a premature comeback. He said he will not return until he has “all the small things fixed” and “everything is right” in his knee and the supporting structures around it. The Packers share that priority and want to avoid any setback that could limit him once he is cleared.
A return this month remains the internal target, but Parsons is not expected to play against the Cowboys. The earliest realistic window appears to be Week 8 or 9.
The enter the game at 3-2 after winning their last two contests and will try to build on that momentum without their top edge rusher. Dallas Cowboys sit at 2-3. While the revenge narrative is delayed, the matchup still carries weight for both teams’ early-season positioning. Green Bay continue to work through the final recovery steps so that when Parsons does return, he is closer to the player who dominated after arriving from Dallas.
