Back in Week 8, when the Packers suffered the loss of star tight end Tucker Kraft amid his breakout season, the immediate reaction from coach Matt LaFleur after the game was to tell reporters that the prognosis for Kraft “didn’t look good.” Of course, it was revealed that Kraft had a torn ACL and would be out for the year.
On Sunday in Denver, after a loss to the Broncos in which Packers star pass-rusher Micah Parsons hurt his knee on an obviously awkward cut, fans were holding out hope that there would be better news after the game than what LaFleur offered after the Kraft injury. It was a longshot hope–the way Parsons went to the ground, clutching his knee and shouting in pain, sure looked like he’d just suffered a torn ACL.
And while it is not confirmed that Parsons did tear his ACL, LaFleur again gave that devastating postgame summation.
“It doesn’t look good,” he said, heaving a big breath. “So. I will leave it at that.”
Micah Parsons ‘Believed’ to Have Torn ACL
Shortly before LaFleur went to the podium after the Packers’ loss, which drops them now to 9-4-1, insider Ian Rapoport of NFL Network foreshadowed the grim reality of Week 15: brace yourself for an ACL tear to Parsons, the $188 million star who has helped transform the Packers defense into one of the top units in the league following the high-profile trade that sent him from Dallas for two first-round picks and Kenny Clark.
Wrote Rapoport: “#Packers edge Micah Parsons, believed to have suffered a torn ACL, finished his season with 12.5 sacks and a significant piece of one of the NFL’s best defenses. But his injury knocks him out for the end of the regular season and beyond.”
Packers Defense Had Been Boosted by Micah Parsons Trade
At Pro Football Focus, the Packers were rated the No. 6 overall defense in the NFL this year, and Parsons was rated the No. 3 pass-rusher out of 111 in the league.
The loss of Parsons–plus an injury to star receiver Christian Watson–was a gut-punch for the Packers on a day in which they coughed up the lead in the NFC North, with the Bears beating Cleveland and moving to 10-4 on the season. The Packers beat Chicago in Green Bay last week, and play them again next week.
GettyHead coach Matt Lafleur of the Green Bay Packers
Packers Blew 9-Point Lead
The Packers led, 16-14, at halftime and took a 23-14 lead on a 40-yard Josh Jacobs reception a minute into the second half. But the Broncos kept coming and seized the game with 13 unanswered points.
“I thought it was a dog fight for most of the game but they ran away with it in the second half,” LaFleur said. “But it was a double-whammy for us just losing some pieces that are critical for our success. But that’s the name of the game. I told the guys, no one is going to feel sorry for us, we have got to rally around one another and everybody is going to have to elevate their play.”
LaFleur was asked what was going through his mind as he saw Parsons limping off the field.
“Same thing that goes through my mind for any player—you don’t wish that on anybody. It’s obviously tough,” he said. “We all know what type of player he is, the impact he has had on our football team. To lose somebody like that, it’s tough. But just, like I said, nobody is going to feel sorry for us and we need to rally around one another and find a way.”
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