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GREEN BAY – Micah Parsons wore out his preferred AI chatbot long ago. Over and over, he kept punching in the same questions, trying to learn how to return from his torn ACL sooner.
What the superstar pass rusher has learned is there’s no loophole around the nine-month rule. Parsons and the Green Bay Packers are in agreement there will not be football a single day before the nine-month mark from his Dec. 29 surgery to repair the ACL he tore at the Denver Broncos.
“The goal has always just been not right now but longevity with my career here,” Parsons said. “And I think they want that approach. We have a pretty strong nine-month rule. So it's just all about just do the research and the data. There's no good outcomes with players coming back early from ACL, especially if you're having all the other things that are getting fixed up. It’s just all about completing the rehab to the best of our ability, and seeing where we’re at from there.”
Parsons said his surgery in late December also “cleaned up” his meniscus, meaning his recovery has not been from an isolated ACL injury. It has put him on a different recovery path from tight end Tucker Kraft, who Parsons said had only ACL reconstruction.
The nine-month rule would place Parsons’ projected timeline for a return at Sept. 29, a couple of weeks before the Packers play marquee games against the Chicago Bears (Oct. 11) and Dallas Cowboys (Oct. 18) at Lambeau Field. It's possible Parsons still will be reacclimating to football when those games arrive. Coach Matt LaFleur said last week he expects Parsons to open training camp on the physically unable to perform list. If he opens the season on the PUP, Parsons would miss at least the first four games.
Whenever Parsons' window off the PUP opens, he would have three weeks to be added to the active roster.
But Parsons emphasized he’s less focused on being available for a game in the middle of October than he is for the stretch run late in the season, which he missed last year. The Packers lost all five of their final games in 2025, games Parsons either did not finish or missed entirely.
“It’s about knowing when to go, and it’s about feeling great. I don’t think Gutey [Packers GM Brian Gutekunst] or Matt [LaFleur] wants me to go out there if I’m not 100% and risk re-injury and lose me for the year, and it’s just a waste of a year. Everything is about playoffs and winning football games deep in December. Yeah, those games are important, but maybe we don’t see Dallas twice but we see Chicago twice. And the games that we have in December are even more playoff games, not just to look that far ahead, but we’ve got a tough schedule this year.
“I think for the betterment everyone wants me at 100 and wants me in those games so we can make this championship run.”
Parsons is five months into his recovery, and it hasn’t gotten easier. He recently started running on an AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill, which uses NASA-patented air pressure to unweight a body up to 80%.
When he isn’t rehabbing, Parsons said he still struggles to grapple with why one of the sport’s most significant injuries happened to him.
“I would definitely say it is hard for me to accept,” Parsons said. “Not only is it hard to accept that I’m going to miss more time than what I wanted, but it’s also hard to accept the injury like that. It constantly plays in my brain, constantly thinking about how can I not – like, you don’t even know how much time I spend on ChatGPT about my injury. I just can’t accept where I’m at. I’m like, ‘Man, how can I keep progressing and progressing.’ It’s nonstop.
“I haven’t accepted it yet, but I work hard as hell every day trying to make sure that I will be better when I come out of this.”
Parsons said most of his time during the Packers’ offseason program has been spent on rehabbing his left knee, not integrating into new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s system. He hasn’t attended morning meetings, which overlap with Parsons’ rehab time. But he stands next to defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington at practice, listening to calls before reps on the field.
As the defense transitions to a 3-4 base, Parsons said the “sky is the limit” for him in Gannon’s new system. He expects protections to play “more honest” not knowing who’s rushing and not from the 3-4 scheme.
But, more than anything, Parsons just wants to be back on the field.
“That’s the beauty part,” Parsons said, “finally getting through those dark tunnel stages. Being back on the field, and they’re all talking about throwing up the one, how we’re all going to do that together in that emotional moment. That’s like the magic. That’s what I look at when I’m working out, how can I get back with my friends, my brothers. Just all that, there is that beautiful side of that.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers star Micah Parsons provides 5-month update on his ACL recovery
Continue reading...
What the superstar pass rusher has learned is there’s no loophole around the nine-month rule. Parsons and the Green Bay Packers are in agreement there will not be football a single day before the nine-month mark from his Dec. 29 surgery to repair the ACL he tore at the Denver Broncos.
“The goal has always just been not right now but longevity with my career here,” Parsons said. “And I think they want that approach. We have a pretty strong nine-month rule. So it's just all about just do the research and the data. There's no good outcomes with players coming back early from ACL, especially if you're having all the other things that are getting fixed up. It’s just all about completing the rehab to the best of our ability, and seeing where we’re at from there.”
Parsons said his surgery in late December also “cleaned up” his meniscus, meaning his recovery has not been from an isolated ACL injury. It has put him on a different recovery path from tight end Tucker Kraft, who Parsons said had only ACL reconstruction.
The nine-month rule would place Parsons’ projected timeline for a return at Sept. 29, a couple of weeks before the Packers play marquee games against the Chicago Bears (Oct. 11) and Dallas Cowboys (Oct. 18) at Lambeau Field. It's possible Parsons still will be reacclimating to football when those games arrive. Coach Matt LaFleur said last week he expects Parsons to open training camp on the physically unable to perform list. If he opens the season on the PUP, Parsons would miss at least the first four games.
Whenever Parsons' window off the PUP opens, he would have three weeks to be added to the active roster.
But Parsons emphasized he’s less focused on being available for a game in the middle of October than he is for the stretch run late in the season, which he missed last year. The Packers lost all five of their final games in 2025, games Parsons either did not finish or missed entirely.
“It’s about knowing when to go, and it’s about feeling great. I don’t think Gutey [Packers GM Brian Gutekunst] or Matt [LaFleur] wants me to go out there if I’m not 100% and risk re-injury and lose me for the year, and it’s just a waste of a year. Everything is about playoffs and winning football games deep in December. Yeah, those games are important, but maybe we don’t see Dallas twice but we see Chicago twice. And the games that we have in December are even more playoff games, not just to look that far ahead, but we’ve got a tough schedule this year.
“I think for the betterment everyone wants me at 100 and wants me in those games so we can make this championship run.”
Parsons is five months into his recovery, and it hasn’t gotten easier. He recently started running on an AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill, which uses NASA-patented air pressure to unweight a body up to 80%.
When he isn’t rehabbing, Parsons said he still struggles to grapple with why one of the sport’s most significant injuries happened to him.
“I would definitely say it is hard for me to accept,” Parsons said. “Not only is it hard to accept that I’m going to miss more time than what I wanted, but it’s also hard to accept the injury like that. It constantly plays in my brain, constantly thinking about how can I not – like, you don’t even know how much time I spend on ChatGPT about my injury. I just can’t accept where I’m at. I’m like, ‘Man, how can I keep progressing and progressing.’ It’s nonstop.
“I haven’t accepted it yet, but I work hard as hell every day trying to make sure that I will be better when I come out of this.”
Parsons said most of his time during the Packers’ offseason program has been spent on rehabbing his left knee, not integrating into new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s system. He hasn’t attended morning meetings, which overlap with Parsons’ rehab time. But he stands next to defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington at practice, listening to calls before reps on the field.
As the defense transitions to a 3-4 base, Parsons said the “sky is the limit” for him in Gannon’s new system. He expects protections to play “more honest” not knowing who’s rushing and not from the 3-4 scheme.
But, more than anything, Parsons just wants to be back on the field.
“That’s the beauty part,” Parsons said, “finally getting through those dark tunnel stages. Being back on the field, and they’re all talking about throwing up the one, how we’re all going to do that together in that emotional moment. That’s like the magic. That’s what I look at when I’m working out, how can I get back with my friends, my brothers. Just all that, there is that beautiful side of that.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers star Micah Parsons provides 5-month update on his ACL recovery
Continue reading...
