The Green Bay Packers need to fully unleash star pass-rusher Micah Parsons 

It's time for Micah Parsons to really show why the Green Bay Packers traded away a treasure trove of assets for him just before the 2025 season began.

Parsons has now been with the Packers for five regular season weeks, including the bye week.

The idea with him coming over from Dallas with a back injury that kept him out of action for fall camp was that he needed time to get back into football shape. He also needed time to get fully integrated into defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley's defense.

We saw the Packers slow play Parsons over the first few weeks. He came in on obvious third-down passing situations and to his credit, he made his presence known. Through four weeks of play he's notched only four tackles and 2.5 sacks, but his pressure rate has been phenomenal. He's been consistently getting after quarterbacks and, at the very least, speeding up their internal clocks.

The advanced stats are there. Parsons has four hurries, four quarterback knockdowns, and 11 pressures. His pressure percentage is second best in the league, and his time-to-pressure in seconds is among the best in the NFL as well.

The fact of the matter is that Parsons has been "just fine" for the Packers as he's gotten used to his new surroundings, but the Packers didn't trade away two firsts and Kenny Clark because they wanted to get back "just fine".

They traded for a superstar who could wreck games (not just save them) and single-handedly win them. Yes, Parsons has been double and even triple-teamed for many of his snaps in Green and Gold, but the Packers are also paying the former Penn State Nittany Lion $186 million over the next four years to be a player who can rise above that kind of pass-protection.

To be clear, Parsons has not been a disappointment so far for the Packers. Heck, even his presence alone seemingly energized the defense in the first three weeks of play.

It's time for Parsons to start dominating games, though. Myles Garrett had two sacks and made a huge impact against the Cincinnati Bengals when the Cleveland Browns played them in Week 1, and that's the type of impact Parsons needs to have himself this weekend against Cincy.

It can't be just one game, though. The Packers need Parsons to be the type of player to get multiple sacks in multiple games this season. He's done it plenty of times in the past, but there's no time better than the present for the Packers.