Micah Parsons tore his ACL and suffered a meniscus injury in Week 15 last season, ending his first year in Green Bay early. Now he's putting a number on his comeback, and it's a number Cowboys fans are going to circle on the calendar whether they want to or not.
Micah Parsons sounded optimistic about playing in the Green Bay Packers’ Week 6 game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field. “I think it's very realistic,” Parsons said Tuesday. More via @RobDemovsky: https://t.co/OhLTANymL3
Per Adam Schefter, Parsons sounded genuinely optimistic when he addressed reporters this week, saying "I think it's very realistic" about suiting up when the Cowboys come to Lambeau Field in Week 6. That's not a throwaway line from a guy who just wants to talk himself into game shape — it's the first real target date he's put on the record.
Context matters here. The Packers reportedly stick to a strict nine-month no-football rule after ACL surgery, which puts Parsons back on the practice field at the earliest around late September, just days before a Week 4 matchup with Tampa Bay. Week 6 against Dallas would be the earliest realistic game action after that, which is exactly why this timeline lines up so cleanly — it's less a coincidence and more the floor of what's physically possible.
The matchup itself needs no extra hype. Dallas traded Parsons to Green Bay last August after a messy contract standoff with Jerry Jones, sending him out for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Parsons responded by signing a 4-year, $188 million deal in Green Bay that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league, then went out and racked up 12.5 sacks in 14 games before the injury cut his debut season short.
So yeah, a healthy Parsons lining up across from his old team in Week 6 is exactly the kind of revenge-game subplot the NFL schedule makers dream about. Parsons himself has already said he wants to "prove Packers were right about me," and doing it against Dallas would be about as loud a statement as it gets.
Nothing is locked in yet — Parsons has acknowledged there's still real rehab work ahead, and even a best-case recovery leaves room for setbacks between now and October. But for a guy who missed the back half of his first Packers season, just being in the conversation for Week 6 is a good sign. Book it as one of the storylines to track all camp.