When he last spoke to reporters in early August<\/a>, Parsons suggested \u2014 without guaranteeing or predicting \u2014 that he could be cleared for game action in time to face his former team.<\/p>\n\u201cI think it\u2019s very realistic,\u201d said Parsons, who spent his first four NFL seasons with the Cowboys, recording 52.5 sacks, earning three All-Pro honors and four Pro Bowl selections. \u201cMe and the [medical] staff, we\u2019ve got to get to the point where I\u2019m feeling great and we say, \u2018Micah, you\u2019ll be in a really good phase.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it possible? Yes. I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s not possible. But, at the same time, in these next 10, 12 weeks from now on, we\u2019ve got to do our part to make it possible. It\u2019s not off the board, but we\u2019ve got to put the work in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, it is off the board. And considering Parsons still hasn\u2019t done any football-related activities \u2014 he said in June that his doctors had given him a strict no-football edict \u2014 he\u2019ll presumably need multiple weeks of practicing before he sees game action.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to get him back on the practice field and there\u2019s a lot of testing that goes on before he gets medically cleared to get out there,\u201d LaFleur said Monday. \u201cAnd then I\u2019m sure we\u2019re going to want to give him some time to get back to playing football. As you see with most guys that are coming off a major injury, it takes a little bit of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Sunday night\u2019s prime-time tilt against the Cowboys, the Packers\u2019 next four games are at Detroit on Oct. 25; a \u201cThursday Night Football\u201d matchup with the Carolina Panthers at Lambeau Field on Oct. 29; a Nov. 8 game at New England; and a Nov. 15 home game against the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n
The Packers\u2019 bye week follows, although it\u2019s an abbreviated bye because they\u2019ll play the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in suburban L.A. on Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
If Parsons hasn\u2019t returned to game action by the Rams game, they\u2019ll have only six games remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s perplexing about Parsons\u2019 timeline is that general manager Brian Gutekunst raised expectations for an earlier return during a Q&A session with reporters on Sept. 1, after final cuts at the end of training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a pretty good idea once we get out of that four-game [PUP] window that we\u2019re going to be pretty close,\u201d Gutekunst said at the time. \u201cAs you guys have heard me say, I\u2019m going to be pretty cautious with that. We\u2019ve got a big investment there. He\u2019s really important to what we\u2019re trying to do. To accomplish the goals we want to late in the year, he\u2019s going to need to be at his best. So, I want to make sure that that happens.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he\u2019s eager. There\u2019s a new rule this year where we can open their window to practice after the second game. I imagine when that time comes, there\u2019s going to be some conversations about what he can and can\u2019t do, because he\u2019s going to be really eager to get out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Packers-Cowboys will mark the sixth game Parsons, who recorded 12.5 sacks in his first 13 games with the Packers before he tore the ACL during a Dec. 14 loss at Denver, has missed.<\/p>\n
Asked on Monday if something had changed since Gutekunst\u2019s comments, LaFleur replied, \u201cI think we were all hopeful, but he\u2019s just [not ready] \u2026 I mean, he\u2019s a physical specimen, he\u2019s a creature of nature for sure and sometimes you\u2019ve got to make sure that your body is [in sync]. You don\u2019t want one leg to be that much stronger than the other leg.\u201d<\/p>\n
LaFleur also said the Packers\u2019 approach to Parsons\u2019 comeback is unrelated to the season-ending ruptured patellar tendon right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele suffered in Week 2 against the Jets.<\/p>\n
Bako-Bewele initially suffered a partial tear of the tendon in the same Dec. 14 against the Broncos that ended Parsons\u2019 season. He opted for a less invasive surgery that was supposed to allow his body to heal itself and have him ready for the start of the season.<\/p>\n
Bako-Bewele did indeed start the opener at Minnesota, but his season ended seven days later against the Jets.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you never allow one instance or one player\u2019s [injury] to effect somebody else,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cThis is all about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
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