It looks like defensive end Micah Parsons’ first season with the Packers has come to a painful end.
Parsons left Sunday’s game in Denver with a non-contact injury to his left knee and a league source tells PFT that the Packers believe Parsons suffered a torn ACL. An MRI will be done to confirm that diagnosis.
If the diagnosis is confirmed, Parsons will miss the rest of the season and have surgery to repair the injury. The hope would be for him to be back early in the 2026 season, but there’s a lot of steps that need to be taken before anyone will be ready to talk about return dates.
The news comes on the same day that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL, so it has been a rough day on the injury front around the league.
The Packers lost their lead over the Broncos on the final play of the fourth quarter in Denver and they also lost defensive end Micah Parsons a couple of plays earlier.
Parsons grabbed his left knee while trying to chase down Broncos quarterback Bo Nix on a first down pass. Parsons was able to walk off the field with help from members of the training staff and he went to the locker room for further evaluation of the non-contact injury.
The Packers confirmed it is a knee injury and call Parsons questionable to return.
Nix threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game a couple of plays later and the Broncos now lead the Packers 27-23 with 15 minutes left to play.
On Sunday, Da Bears constantly held Packers linebacker Micah Parsons, resorting at times to Da Bear Hug.
From the mugging to the choking to the grabbing to the pulling, it’s astounding that Parsons didn’t draw a single holding penalty.
But there’s a much larger problem. Holding is routinely not called by today’s NFL officials. Coincidentally (or not), the NFL wants yards and points and offensive excitement — especially as gamblers who bet the overs (as to the total score and/or the various crack-cocaine prop bets) keep watching the games deep into the fourth quarter to see whether their various wagers will prevail.
Before 1978, offensive linemen couldn’t extend their hands to block. They had to keep their fists together and elbows out, which has been immortalized by the electric football figure in the blocking posture that prevailed before the NFL realized that making it easier to block defensive linemen would open up the passing game.
Still, it has now gotten out of control. Late in the Week 8 game between the Vikings and Chargers, Prime Video played clips of some of left tackle Joe Alt’s plays during his first game back from a high ankle sprain. In every one of them, he was holding the pass rusher, to some degree.
He’s far from alone.
At this point, teams should be coaching their offensive linemen to do it. It’s similar to the Legion of Boom’s approach to covering receivers. Hold them on every single play, because the officials won’t bog the game down by constantly throwing flags.
As to holding, there are times when they never throw a flag.
So, yes, the Packers have a legitimate beef about the failure to call holding by the Bears. But the Packers should respond by telling their blockers to do the same thing to opposing defenders — if they haven’t already.
Put simply, the officials have allowed the sheer volume of holding fouls to overpower the system.
So hold ‘em if you got ‘em. The NFL wants yards and points and bets and viewers. Calling every hold that happens would directly impact each of those valuable factors of modern-day pro football.
Micah Parsons has been one of the best defensive players in football since entering the league five years ago. He was defensive rookie of the year in 2021, first-team All-Pro in 2021 and 2022, second-team All-Pro in 2023 and is a four-time Pro Bowler.
He has yet to win defensive player of the year, finishing second in 2021 and 2022, third in 2023 and 18th in 2024 after missing four games.
Parsons is unlikely to win it this year, either, with Myles Garrett the overwhelming favorite to win defensive player of the year. Garrett is 6.5 sacks ahead of Parsons and on pace for the all-time single-season record.
Parsons was asked Thursday whether he believes he has a shot at winning his first defensive player of the year.
“I don’t really know,” he said, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com. “I just kind of leave that up to the writers and who they vote for. I don’t really control it, but for me, I’ve just got to just keep playing good football and helping my team win.”
Parsons and Garrett are good friends, and the two spend time working out together in the offseason.
“We talk about this when we train all the time,” Parsons said. “It’s like running your own race. Me trying to catch up to Myles is probably not going to happen, and he’s his own different specimen, and he has his own team, and what they do and what they do is special. And I think my race is finding a way to finish these last five games and putting together my best season, and I’m on track.”
Parsons, in his first season with the Packers, has had a season worthy of defensive player of the year, but Garrett has been better. So, it’s likely Parsons finishes his fifth season as the runner-up for the award a third time.
“I think it’ll be a nice accolade if I’m able to achieve that once in my career, but for right now, I just been playing for respect,” Parsons said. “I think that’s kind of what’s making me go.”
The Cowboys are excelling, for now. And owner Jerry Jones is embellishing, as always.
Appearing Friday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones made an eye-popping claim. Via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com, Jones said he offered the Jets linebacker Micah Parsons plus a first-round pick for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams before the start of the regular season.
Not Williams plus a first-rounder for Parsons. Parsons plus a first-rounder for Williams.
“I thought that much of Williams,” Jones said.
That’s the opposite of what Jones said in September. Williams, Jones indicated at the time, was the starting point for a Parsons package, and not the other way around.
The latest claim, we’re told, was met with laughter from the powers-that-be in New York.
Jones later acquired Williams for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick (the highest one the Cowboys have), and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.
And Jones’s latest exaggeration isn’t surprising. He’s still trying to justify the decision to trade Parsons. By claiming the Jets said “no” to Parsons and a first-round pick for Williams, Jones attempts to further undermine Parsons — who became on Thursday the first player with 12 or more sacks in each of his first five seasons.
It was a game decided by fourth downs in Detroit on Thanksgiving.
The Packers faced a big decision on fourth-and-3 with 1:55 left to play against the Lions. They led 31-24 against a team with no timeouts, which meant a conversion won them the game. A failure would give the ball to Detroit near midfield, but head coach Matt LaFleur decided to roll the dice.
Jordan Love and Dontayvion Wicks made that bet pay off. Wicks went high to get a 16-yard pass from Love and the Packers took knees to close out a win that moves them to 8-3-1 on the season.
It wasn’t the first fourth down success of the day for Green Bay. Love and Wicks hooked up for the team’s first touchdown on a fourth down early in the second quarter and Love’s second touchdown pass went to Romeo Doubs on another fourth down before halftime.
Love threw two more touchdowns in the second half — a 51-yard beauty to Christian Watson and a one-yarder to Wicks — on his way to going 18-of-29 for 234 yards. Wicks had six catches for 94 yards and Watson had four catches for 80 yards,.
The Lions were less successful in similar spots. They failed to convert both of the fourth downs they tried during the afternoon and those failures loom large in a one-score loss. Head coach Dan Campbell has taken over the offensive play-calling in recent weeks and the team’s failures in those spots will likely lead to questions about how well the process is working.
At 7-5, the Lions are running low on margin for error to get back to the postseason this season and getting swept by the Packers isn’t going to help their chances of jumping back into the race for the division title.
Detroit also had to settle for a field goal on their final offensive possession when Micah Parsons sacked Jared Goff on third down. Parsons posted 2.5 sacks in the game and is now the first player in NFL history with at least 12 sacks in each of their first five seasons.
The Packers will move on to another crucial divisional matchup in Week 14. They will host the Bears and will be hoping a few extra days off helps them get defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt back after he was carted off with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
The Lions have a significant injury of their own to monitor after wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown left the game in the first quarter with an ankle injury. They’ll only have a week before they’re back on the field against the Cowboys for another Thursday game.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is five sacks away from the single-season sack record. Packers linebacker Micah Parsons is two sacks away from a different record.
Via NBC Sports research, Parsons needs only 2.0 sacks over the balance of the season to become the first player in league history with 12 or more sacks in each of his first five NFL seasons.
He’s already one of only two players to have 10 or more sacks in each of their first five seasons. Hall of Famer Reggie White is the other player to do it since stats became an official statistic in 1982.
Parsons is currently fifth in the league with 10.0 sacks.
The Packers defense turned in a dominant performance on Sunday, delivering a 23-6 victory for Green Bay over division-rival Minnesota.
Defensive lineman Micah Parsons posted 2.0 of the Packers’ five sacks on Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, as Green Bay held the opposing offense to just 4 yards on 15 plays in the second half.
McCarthy had yet another poor performance in his sixth career start. He finished the contest 12-of-19 for 87 yards with a pair of interceptions. McCarthy’s first pick, which came midway through the fourth quarter, made him just the fourth QB in the past 20 years to throw an interception in each of his first six starts, joining Zach Mettenberger, Blake Bortles, and Deshone Kizer.
Justin Jefferson had just four receptions for 48 yards.
On the other side, the Packers took much of the air out of the football, winning time of possession 37:15 to 22:45. Starting in place of the injured Josh Jacobs, running back Emanuel Wilson rushed for 107 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns. Quarterback Jordan Love finished 14-of-21 for 139 yards. Head coach Matt LaFleur inserted Malik Willis to finish the victory late in the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Packers move to 7-3-1. They will be on the road to face the Lions to start the Thanksgiving slate on Thursday afternoon.
The Vikings are now 4-7 with some significant questions about their quarterback. Minnesota will be in Seattle to face the Seahawks in Week 13.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs (knee) returned to practice as a limited participant.
Jacobs told beat reporters on Thursday that he had a bone bruise and a thigh contusion on the second play of Sunday’s win over the Giants.
He played only 12 snaps before departing.
Jacobs said 60 percent of the swelling is gone, but he will need to regain his range of motion in the left knee before he can play. Thus, the Packers consider Jacobs day-to-day.
The Packers had only two other changes to the practice report on Thursday: They added cornerback Bo Melton, who was limited with a shoulder injury; and wide receiver Savion Williams (foot) returned to limited work after sitting out on Wednesday.
Packers defensive lineman Micah Parsons (pectoral) was among the players who remained limited.
Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (foot) and wide receivers Romeo Doubs (wrist), Matthew Golden (shoulder/wrist), Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and Christian Watson (knee) also were limited.
Safety Javon Bullard (ankle), cornerback Keisean Nixon (illness), offensive lineman Zach Tom (back) and defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness (foot) were others who were limited.
The Packers worked without defensive lineman Karl Brooks (ankle), cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee) and linebacker Quay Walker (neck) for a second consecutive day.
Quarterback Jordan Love (left shoulder) and kicker Brandon McManus (right quad) were again full participants.
Packers defensive lineman Micah Parsons made an impact in Sunday’s win over the Giants with a game-ending, strip-sack of Jameis Winston. He made 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and six tackles.
Parsons returned to practice on Wednesday with a pectoral injury that limited him.
Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (foot) and wide receivers Romeo Doubs (wrist), Matthew Golden (shoulder/wrist), Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and Christian Watson (knee) also were limited.
The Packers worked without defensive lineman Karl Brooks (ankle), cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee), running back Josh Jacobs (knee), linebacker Quay Walker (neck) and wide receiver Savion Williams (foot).
Safety Javon Bullard (ankle), cornerback Keisean Nixon (illness), offensive lineman Zach Tom (back) and defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness (foot) were others who were limited.
Quarterback Jordan Love (left shoulder) and kicker Brandon McManus (right quad) were full participants.
