GREEN BAY, Wis. — Micah Parsons has been on the reserve/physically unable to perform list since Aug. 30, which rules him out of Green Bay’s first four games. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday that there is optimism Parsons can play in the fifth, against the Chicago Bears. If he is not ready, the Week 6 meeting with the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field remains a realistic target.
The Green Bay Packers open at the Minnesota Vikings, then play at the New York Jets, host the Atlanta Falcons, and travel to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before he becomes eligible.
Week 5 brings the Bears to Lambeau Field on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 3:25 p.m. CT. The Cowboys arrive seven days later for a Sunday night kickoff at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
Parsons tore the ACL in his left knee during a Week 15 loss at the Denver Broncos on Dec. 14. The repair also involved his meniscus, and he had surgery on Dec. 29.
Brian Gutekunst Outlines The Four-Game Window
A rule change this season lets Green Bay open a practice window for a player on the reserve/PUP list after the second game rather than at the end of the four-week period. Brian Gutekunst said conversations about what Parsons can and cannot do will begin once that point arrives.
“We have a pretty good idea that once we get out of that four-game window we’re going to be pretty close,” Gutekunst said at his Sept. 1 news conference. “As you guys have heard me say, I’m going to be pretty cautious with that. We’ve got a big investment there.”
“He’s really important to what we’re trying to do, and to accomplish the goals we want to late in the year, he’s going to need to be at his best,” Gutekunst continued. “So I want to make sure that happens, but he’s eager.”
The earliest Green Bay can open that window is Monday, Sept. 21, the day after its Week 2 game at the Jets. Opening it starts a three-week period in which Parsons can practice without being activated.
Parsons has resumed straight-line running. Changing directions is still ahead of him.
“I think it’s very realistic,” Parsons said on Aug. 4 of a Week 6 return. “Me and the staff, we’ve got to put the work in. We’ve got to do our part to make it possible. It’s not off the board but we’ve got to put the work in.”
Later in camp, Parsons told NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger and Stacey Dales that Week 6 against the Cowboys was his most optimistic return date.
He has tied the knee to his body being overloaded after a second summer without training camp reps, the first of them coming during his contract standoff in Dallas.
“People are worried about the knee,” Parsons explained. “They should be worried about how I’m going to play when I get back.”
Dallas Cowboys Visit Lambeau Field Oct. 18
The Oct. 18 game is the fourth Sunday night meeting between the two teams and the second in as many seasons. Green Bay is 17-13-1 against Dallas in the regular season and has won seven of the last nine.
Last season’s meeting at AT&T Stadium ended 40-40, the second-highest-scoring tie in NFL history behind a 43-43 game between the Oakland Raiders and Boston Patriots in Week 6 of 1964. That game finished with nine consecutive scoring drives, the most to end any NFL game since 1933.
Dallas traded Parsons to Green Bay on Aug. 28, 2025 for Kenny Clark and first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. Parsons signed a four-year, $188 million contract with $136 million guaranteed at $47 million per year, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
The Cowboys made a second trade with Green Bay on March 11, acquiring Rashan Gary for a 2027 fourth-round pick. Gary started 15 games for the Packers in 2025 and finished with 7.5 sacks, 20 quarterback hits, 7 tackles for loss, and 1 forced fumble. Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker was on the Green Bay staff for Gary’s first two seasons.
Parsons appeared in 14 games for the Packers last season and recorded 12.5 sacks, 41 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 pass defensed. He was named first-team All-Pro for the third time.
Over five seasons, Parsons has achieved 65 sacks and 297 tackles in 77 games, earning a Pro Bowl selection every year.
Green Bay was 9-3-1 when Parsons went down in Denver. The Packers lost out from there, finished 9-7-1, and fell 31-27 to the Bears in the wild-card round.
Dallas opens at the New York Giants on Sunday at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. Washington visits AT&T Stadium on Sept. 20 at 3:25 p.m. CT.
