More Than Sacks, This Is Why Packers Missed Micah Parsons

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It goes without saying that the Green Bay Packers missed Micah Parsons. Before his torn ACL, the Packers were 9-3-1 and beating the AFC’s eventual No. 1 seed, the Denver Broncos.

Parsons went down, clutching his knee and knowing immediately what had happened, in the third quarter. They lost that game, and every other game the rest of the season.

The Packers obviously missed his impact on defense. Even while missing the final three-plus games of the regular season, he finished third in the NFL in pressures.

What they also missed is his leadership. Badly.

“One thing I just challenged the guys is like I wasn’t here before – I don’t know what it looked like before, so I can’t really speak on before – but I tell guys get ready to embrace this mentality of doing more than what your job requires, because we got to get ready to fight deep water,” Parsons said on Monday.

It was Parsons’ first conversation with reporters since suffering the knee injury at Denver on Dec. 14 – two days short of one month ago – and it came two days after the Packers blew a 21-3 lead in a season-ending loss to the Bears.

In the wake of an epic playoff collapse, Parsons gave a resounding endorsement of embattled coach Matt LaFleur, calling him one of the “best guys and people” he’s been around in football. Ultimately, he didn’t think the team’s end-of-season collapse had anything to do with the coaching.

Rather, he said, “players got to … do your job.”

“Players have to have accountability, and that’s something that I’m challenging us as players that we need to take,” he said. “We need to have accountability. How do we let that game go? Coaching can only do so much.”

The Packers lost their final five games of the season, including fall-from-ahead losses against Denver and Chicago in the regular season and Chicago again in the playoffs.

Asked if something needed to change with the team culture, something that starts at the top of the organization, he again focused on the locker room and not the coaches.

“Yeah, the change is the players,” he said. “Us players are the ones that’s playing the game. The change is the players. I challenge the guys today. Do more than what your job’s required. If you’re in shape, run more, do more. If we got to play 80 snaps, we play 80 f***ing snaps. We shouldn’t be tired doing that. We got to strain. Look how many plays we lost because we got outstrained. That’s things that can’t happen.”

Parsons continued his powerful message with what sounded like a critique of team leadership. Again, it was directed at the players to do more than talk the talk.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) jogs off the field following the game against the Chicago Bears. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

“People can’t outwork (you),” he said. “When your effort matches what you’re trying to say in the locker room, then it carries over more, man. I dare people to beat me to the ball. You know what I mean? I’m running to the ball like my life depends on it.

“And it do! My life depends on the outcome of how this team plays. I need you to want to beat me to the ball. I need you to want to beat me to the quarterback every play. Everything’s a competition. Even other teammates, we’re still competing to reach the same common goal because, as I realize, I want the same success for you as I want for me. We’re all tied together but our one goal is to get to that championship. So, we’re competing together even though we’re on the same team.”

Parsons said he is “flying” through his comeback and hopes to be back on the field “sometime” in September. So, he won’t be on the field for the offseason practices. But he will be there, making his presence felt and pushing his teammates to push harder than ever.

Talent isn’t the issue, Parsons said, saying the Packers were winning “most” of their games even without him.

“This is a good football team,” he said.

To get to a Super Bowl will require a superior work ethic and desire.

“You can’t coach effort, and that’s the mentality that I want guys embracing,” he said. “There’s this saying, to get something you’ve never done, you have to do something you’ve never done, you know what I mean? So that means as players, we’ve got to push ourselves more in the offseason.

“Ninety-eight days before we’re back together, push yourself harder. Start running, start working out, push yourself. Have someone challenge you every day so that way when you come in for OTAs, you’re ready. Once that’s done and you come to training camp, you’re even more ready. Those are things that we can control: our effort, our conditioning, just things like that. I’m going to be one of the leaders when it comes to that.”

Just like this season, the Packers will face one of the toughest schedule in the NFL in 2026. The NFC North will be one of the best divisions in the NFL, and they’ll also face the powerful Bills and Texans at home and the Rams and Patriots on the road.

There are no breathers on the schedule. There should be no breathers in getting ready for it.

“There’s a lot of reality checks that us as players need,” Parsons said. “People want to look at the play-calling, but I’m looking at the effort of the guys. I’m looking at how guys are playing. Are we blocking? Are we getting blocks? Are we attacking? Those are the things us players, we can control. And I think more people need to realize that.

“Like, yeah, you can do your job in the league. If someone says, ‘Hey, contain the edge.’ You can just sit outside and make sure no one gets outside, or are you going to get off the block and make a play? So, sometimes it’s not about what position the coach puts you in, it’s about what position you put yourself in, and that’s the type of reality and mindset that I want to bring to this team.”

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