Will Micah Parsons reclaim his superstar form after injury, or will the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl dreams be impacted by his recovery?
The Green Bay Packers feel like they're in a Super Bowl window. They've got a great point, too.
If it wasn't for injuries to several of their star players last season, they appeared to have a team worthy of competing for a Lombardi Trophy. Remember, the Packers were 9-3-1 and contending for the top seed in the NFC when Micah Parsons tore his ACL in Week 15 against the Denver Broncos.
To that point, the Packers had even withstood injuries to Tucker Kraft, who was ascending and looking like a superstar tight end, former All-Pro lineman Elgton Jenkins and former first-round pick defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt.
Imagine had the Packers even just had Kraft in that game against the Broncos, before the wheels fell off?
Heck, imagine what this team could have done had they had Parsons, Kraft, Jenkins and Wyatt for the entirety of the season.
The injuries to Kraft, Jenkins, and Wyatt were tough to overcome, but it was the injury to Parsons that was devastating for Green Bay. He was the heart and soul of not just the defense, but of arguably the whole team.
Consider this: The Packers went 9-3-1 with Parsons. They went 0-5 after his injury.
That's why Matt Schneidman of The Athletic believes the biggest question surrounding this team in 2026 is Parsons' health. It's not just about him coming back, because he will be back.
The bigger question is this: Can he return to his superstar form?
"This is the most important question for the entire team," Schneidman recently wrote in a piece looking at Green Bay's depth chart after the 2026 NFL Draft. "Parsons finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was still named third-team All-Pro despite being on a pitch count the first couple of games of the season and then tearing his ACL in Week 15. He’s expected to miss the first three or four games of the season while finishing rehab, so which version of Parsons will the Packers get on the other side of that?"
A strong case can be made that even at 90-percent, Parsons is better than most of the pass-rushers in the NFL. To Schneidman's point, he was on a pitch-count for essentially a quarter of last season and he missed the final few games, and he still finished with 12.5 sacks, 27 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and 41 total tackles.
© Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images. The Packers will undoubtedly take any version of Parsons they can get, but it's the version at 100-percent, playing at an All-Pro level, that made them look like a Super Bowl contender for much of last season.
Can he get back to that level of play, and how quickly will it take?
That's the biggest question surrounding this team in 2026. It does sound like everyone is feeling positive, though, and that's well worth noting.
"Everything's good," General Manager Brian Gutekunst said of Parsons' recovery at the NFL owners' meetings. “We had our trainers down there with him not too long ago and came back with really good. It’s daily communication. He’s an exceptional athlete, and we’re hoping that takes over here pretty quick and the healing process goes fast.”
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