The Green Bay Packers and Micah Parsons are targeting the Nov. 25 Thanksgiving Eve game against the Los Angeles Rams for the star pass rusher's return to the field, sources told NFL Network.
Parsons is set to practice next week, having hit all of his most recent rehab markers. But that does not mark the conclusion of his rehab, according to sources; it only continues the ramp-up process Parsons' and Green Bay's respective training staffs have undertaken.
For instance, the plan for next week is for Parsons to participate in individual drills during practice. The following week, if all goes well, he will be in team drills. Then there is Green Bay's bye in Week 11, followed by the abbreviated week of preparation for the Thanksgiving Eve night game.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur knows the impact Parsons -- who had 12.5 sacks last year in 14 games before his knee injury -- can have.
"At the end of the day, that's the medical [decision]," LaFleur said. "Yeah, I'm itching [for] it, though, for sure."
Parsons has not played since Dec. 14, when he tore his ACL and meniscus, with surgery to reconstruct the ACL and fully repair the meniscus on Dec. 29. Parsons has been outspoken and honest about the need to take his time.
"It's just about me making sure I have all the small things fixed first," Parsons said recently on his "The Edge" podcast. "What a lot of people don't figure out is it's not just the ACL. It's like, why did the ACL happen? What was weak? Because it all works together. It's a chain. And throughout the history of ACL, they notice if you come back early, there tends to be an overcompensation injury on the other side. ... We just gonna make sure everything is right before."
