Week 15 was a brutal week around the NFL, with some of the league’s biggest stars, like Micah Parsons, going down with the most feared injury for any athlete: a torn ACL.
It started with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who went down late against the Los Angeles Chargers. Then, hours later, the Green Bay Packers saw edge rusher Parsons suffer a non-contact injury of his own.
It was later confirmed both stars tore their ACLs, abruptly ending their seasons. The Chiefs were eliminated in their loss to the Chargers, but the Packers are still very much alive. Green Bay can clinch a playoff berth in Week 16 with a win over the Chicago Bears on the road, plus a Detroit Lions loss at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For the Packers — already dealing with a growing injury list — the challenge now becomes finishing a strong season without the star pass rusher they traded for. Parsons was a massive part of the defense and widely viewed as the missing piece entering the year. Now, Green Bay has to adjust quickly with postseason aspirations still very much in play.
But the bigger question looms beyond 2025. What does the future look like for Parsons, who turns 27 in May, after such a devastating injury?
Should Micah Parsons Return To Packers In 2026?
Once an MRI confirmed the worst, it became clear Parsons was facing a long recovery. NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported Parsons would be sidelined for at least nine months. The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman added that he would “likely miss the start of next season, too.”
Appearing on “The Dan Patrick Show” on December 17, former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III offered a surprising take — one rooted in experience.
“The number one advice I would give to Micah Parsons and Patrick Mahomes right now is to not play next year,” Griffin said. “And it’s because of when they got hurt. They both got hurt in December.”
Griffin, who underwent three major ACL-related surgeries during his career, explained that recovery timelines often look very different in reality than they do on paper.
“It would be nine months if they were ready to go Week 1,” Griffin said. “But you don’t really feel like yourself until about 15 months after the injury. And some guys will even tell you, ‘It took me 24 months to truly feel like myself again.’”
RGIII Says Micah Parsons Would Still Be Valuable to Packers in 2026
Even if Parsons isn’t fully healthy, Griffin still believes he would have value for Green Bay.
“Don’t get me wrong — 80% of Micah Parsons is almost better than every pass rusher in the NFL,” Griffin said. “But I look at it from the standpoint of my own experience.”
Parsons finished the season third in the NFL with 12.5 sacks, marking his fifth straight year with double-digit sacks. With three games remaining, he likely would have added to that total.
The question is what 80% of Micah Parsons actually looks like. Does that mean fewer snaps? Fewer explosive reps? A noticeable drop in production?
That’s impossible to predict this far out. But Packers fans should be realistic: the version of Parsons they saw in 2025 might not be the one they get when he returns in 2026.
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