There was some hope that Parsons might return in mid-October. He is expected to begin the year on the PUP list before being eligible to return to the 53-man roster in Week 5.
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Parsons said the Packers have a “nine-month rule” to recover from an ACL injury, and September 29 will mark nine months since the initial injury.
But even the mid-October date might have been too optimistic for Parsons. According to SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora, Parsons is now expected to miss half of the regular season, if not more.
La Canfora wrote, “Green Bay’s star pass rusher Micah Parsons will miss more than half the season after returning from surgery.”
After having two first-round picks in Parsons last season, the Packers need their best player on the field to compete for the playoffs. Plus Green Bay can’t afford to risk a long-term injury to the star pass-rusher.
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In June, Parsons said that there was no point in returning from an ACL injury too early.
“I think the goal has always been to have longevity in my career here, not just now,” Parsons said via NFL Media. “I think that’s the approach they want. We have a pretty strong nine-month rule.
“It’s all just through research and data, there are no good results when players come back from an ACL early. Especially if you had other things that had to be fixed, it’s just about completing the rehab to the best of our ability and then seeing where we are from there.”
Parsons’ goal is to finish the season when he returns and not suffer a “relapse” before the Packers reach the playoffs.
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But Green Bay will have to make the postseason without Parsons playing a significant portion of the season.
His absence will certainly impact defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s ability to generate a pass rush, and could add a big number to the loss total before Week 9 (when the Packers go on the road to play the New England Patriots), which will be the halfway mark of the regular season.
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