Packers Land Favorable Schedule as Parsons Eyes Week 5 Return

The Green Bay Packers are still waiting out Micah Parsons’ recovery from a torn ACL, but general manager Brian Gutekunst expects an early 2026 season return, though he declined to give specifics. ESPN’s Adam Schefter offered some more detail there, reporting that Parsons is a candidate to open the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, a designation that would keep Parsons out of the first four weeks of the season and be eligible to return in Week 5.

However, he can start practicing as soon as Week 3 under the new PUP rules, and that is significant, as Parsons would not be participating in training camp practices should he remain on the PUP list into the regular season. The Packers have a lot of guys returning from injuries: tight end Tucker Craft, who tore his ACL in November, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt with a significant leg injury in November, and offensive tackle Zach Tom is managing a return from knee surgery stemming from a December injury. Luckily, the schedule to start the year is quite favorable to them even in the absence of Parsons.

To read more about the benefit to the schedule to start the season, here is the full story from Packers Roundtable writer Andrew Kulha.

Green Bay will face the third-easiest early season schedule in terms of strength of schedule, according to Warren Sharp. They’ll open on the road against the Minnesota Vikings, travel to the New York Jets, head home to host the Atlanta Falcons, and hit the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Weeks 1-4. None of those teams made the playoffs, and all but the Bucs may have a new starting quarterback.

Now, three are on the road, and that always gets dicey, but it’s quite possible that the Packers will start of strong as they get poised for Parsons’ return.