⟳ Репост от Aaron Nagler
Managing Without Micah #Packers #GoPackGo
Managing Without Micah“Holy shit. Packers.” That text, from my fantasy football group chat on August 28, 2025 elicited an involuntary “OH MY GOD” yelp that startled my girlfriend. My immediate next move was to run out the back door and leap into the pool. With all my clothes on. Pure joy.
The draft-and-develop Packers, who seemed to never catch the big fish, had finally caught the big one – arguably the biggest one – in Dallas’ game-wrecking edge rusher, Micah Parsons. The Packers hadn’t reeled in a player of this caliber since Charles Woodson in 2006, or Reggie White in 1993. However, both Woodson and White had already played eight full seasons in the NFL by the time they landed in Green Bay. Parsons came to Wisconsin after just four seasons. This was an absolute superstar – in his absolute prime.
That the acquisition happened so close to the start of the season gave the fans, team, and organization little time to process what had actually just happened.
Yet out of the tunnel he came in week 1 – and to a deafening Lambeau Field roar. Though on a snap count to start the season, Parsons still got his first sack – a takedown of the Lions’ Jared Goff that was reminiscent of those Planet Earth documentaries when the Great Tiger tracks and then mauls its unsuspecting prey. The high-powered Lions offense, which would finish the season as the NFL’s 5th highest scoring unit, managed just 13 points in that loss.
The next week featured another game at Lambeau, this time vs Jayden Daniels’ Commanders, a team that had been in the NFC Championship game the year prior. They were also quickly dismantled by the Packers, scoring just 18 points, and with Parsons notching another half sack. The dominating start quickly had the football world talking “Super Bowl”.
Fast forward to week 15, the Packers had a 9-3-1 record (in their three losses, the Parsons-led defense delivered winning efforts holding the Browns, Panthers, and Eagles to 13, 16, and 10 points, respectively). At that point, only three teams in the NFL had a better record. One of those teams – the team with the league’s best record, the 11-2 Broncos, were the Packers week 15 opponent, and the Packers had them on the ropes, 23-14, before the season essentially imploded with devastating injuries to Christian Watson, and then Parsons.
Oh, to imagine what could have been…
Still, in his abbreviated first season with the Packers, Parsons generated 79 total pressures (14 sacks, 51 hurries, and 14 quarterback hits). He finished the year ranked 2nd in PFF's pass-rush grade (92.9) among all qualified edge defenders. His electric, 11-pressure game against the Arizona Cardinals set a Packers franchise record for pressures in a single game (Next Gen Stats started tracking the metric in 2016).
In short, Parsons, even in limited action, was otherworldly, everything the Packers had hoped for. But the way the season ended, with the soul-crushing playoff collapse to Chicago, it was entirely reasonable that most Packers fans were too broken for silver-linings and pep talks about the future.
It adds to the frustration that Parsons’ injury will linger into this new season. He’ll start the year on the PUP list, and won’t be eligible to return until after week 4. Even then, it seems likely the Packers will hold Parsons back longer, ensuring he’s at full strength, and limiting, as best they can, any risk of re-injury. It’s unquestionably the right thing to do, but it presents a big challenge.
A lot will be asked of first round pick Lukas Van Ness who, to date, has underwhelmed in the eyes of most. Van Ness will lead an inexperienced group that includes Brenton Cox Jr and Arron Mosby, second-year players Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver, and rookies Dani Dennis-Sutton and Nyjalik Kelly (should he make the team). Perhaps Parsons’ absence will provide a trial-by-fire crash course for this young group, and maybe new DC Jonathan Gannon can cultivate some creative fixes and disguises while he’s out.
It’s also possible that the Packers add to the position. Jadeveon Clowney, Von Miller, and a few other options remain unsigned, but who knows how much those veterans would move the needle.
If there’s another possible weakness to the Packers’ defense beyond the pass rush, it’s the secondary. Together, that’s a tough combination: a quarterback with time to throw and a secondary that struggles to cover. It’s likely that Jordan Love and the Packers offense will need to pick up the slack in Parsons’ absence. Thankfully, they have the personnel to do that.
Across the first ten weeks of this next season, the Packers will face just three playoff teams from last year. Then, after a week 11 bye, the Packers’ schedule gets much tougher, facing four playoff teams across a seven game closing stretch.
Whatever happens, Parsons will return at some point, and when he does, this season – and perhaps the entire trajectory of the franchise – will hit another gear. Maybe that sounds like over-cooked hyperbole to some, but I don’t think so. Special players do special things. Remember that Woodson and White both guided the Packers to Super Bowl glory – and they both did so with young/emerging quarterbacks.
So maybe it’s coincidence, maybe it’s by design, or maybe it’s a bit of both. Whatever it is, a familiar script could be repeating itself once again in Titletown, USA.
Filed Under: FeaturedMark Ballard
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Mark Ballard is an obsessive Green Bay Packers fan, born in Buffalo Bills country, but raised right by a Mom from Rice Lake, WI. You can find him on X at @ballark
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NFL Categories: Green Bay PackersTags: Micah ParsonsReggie WhiteCharles Woodson
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