Barring a miracle, the Green Bay Packers will be without their best player to start the season.
Micah Parsons tore his ACL late in the season, and most indications — even from him — point to him missing the first month of the campaign.
As expected, the Packers placed him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to begin training camp.
However, miracles do happen every now and then, and while he admitted that it was a long shot, general manager Brian Gutekunst left the door open for a potential activation before the start of the season.
Micah Parsons might be back before Week 1
“Yeah, I’d like to have enough flexibility to leave the door open. But that would be unlikely, just from a timing perspective,” Gutekunst told the media. “We’ve invested a lot in him, so we want to make sure he’s ready to go before we even think about putting him out there.”
Obviously, the Packers will err on the side of caution with their prized pass rusher.
Then again, he’s cleared all benchmarks so far, and while his schedule recovery hints at an in-season return, Gutekunst wouldn’t put anything past a privileged athlete like him.
“I may have mentioned it before, but he’s a little bit of a genetic freak, so things come pretty easy to him,” Gutekunst said. “Again, he’s still, obviously, got a long ways to go. These are major injuries, so as you go through these things and how hard they have to work to get back, there’s always going to be little setbacks here and there. But he’s doing great right now.”
Parsons is a smart player who knows he’s just getting started, so he’s unlikely to rush his way back to the field, as frustrating as the situation might be.
He showed glimpses of his superstar potential in his first 14 games with the organization, logging 12.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 27 quarterback hits last season, according to Football Reference.
And with the Packers set to take the field in arguably the most competitive division in the NFC, having him back for Week 1 would be huge for their aspirations.