Watch: Micah Parsons’ First Practice After Trade to Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Micah Parsons made his Green Bay Packers practice debut on Monday morning, a few days after he was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Cowboys.

As advertised, he wore No. 1 – the first player since Curly Lambeau wore that number (and others) a century ago.

While in Dallas, Parsons sat out all of training camp in a contract dispute, so these were his first on-the-field drills since he did a few reps during the June minicamp. He intends to play against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Reporters were not allowed to watch 11-on-11 drills.

“Physically, I’m great,” Parsons said during his introductory news conference on Friday. “I think I can contribute a lot. I’m going to team up with the doctors in creating a plan. We already talked about how we can ramp things up and get me into a flow where they feel comfortable and I feel comfortable.

“But my plan is to be here. They didn’t give up what they gave up for me to sit on the sidelines and make this big of a risk and change for me to do that, so I’m going to give them my all.”

Coach Matt LaFleur on Friday said the team would be “calculated with how we deploy him and the number of snaps that he’s going to get.” The first step down the road was Monday’s practice.

Parsons said he was going to meet with defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley on Sunday. Without having a training camp to incorporate him into the defense, the coaches will not only have to get Parsons up to speed schematically but the rest of the defense might have to evolve to incorporate Parsons’ “unique” talents.

How will the team maximize his ability and versatility?

“That’s a heck of a question,” LaFleur said. “Obviously, I don’t think there’s much that he can’t do. It’s just how do you get him acclimated to what we’re doing and then you can let the creativity come out. I think I’ve got a lot of confidence in Haf and our defensive staff that we’ll be able to put him in positions to maximize not only his ability but everybody around him.

“I just know from having to game plan against him, that is something that keeps you up at night when you’re going against a player of his caliber and now we feel like we’ve got a lot of other pieces around him that it’s going to be that much more challenging for our opponents.”

Pro Football Focus listed Parsons lining up at 13 locations last season, ranging from one snap as a slot corner to 261 snaps at left leo, which is a stand-up edge player.

“I love to move around. I think that creates the matchups that we like,” Parsons said. “Because, let’s be honest, man, it’s hard to get to the quarterback in this league. You’ve got to run favorable matchups, so when I get that opportunity of not getting double-teamed, I’ve got to win that matchup and I’ve got to take advantage of that and get pressure on the quarterback, or else it’s kind of easy for a team to kind of program and say, ‘Hey, He’s always going to be on the left side.’ That’s why I like to alternate.

“Sometimes I want to be on the right side. Sometimes I want to be on the left side. I just try to maximize my game, so that way, I can’t be limited or schemed against. So, I pretty much am cool to drop, show up, coming over the A gap, coming over the B gap. I’m really valuable in every which way. I think I can win at any spot on the field. It’s just about am I going to be put there. That’s the type of guy he has.”

Packers Monday Injury Report

The Packers will not release an official injury report until Wednesday.

New injuries: C Elgton Jenkins (unknown).

Old injuries: CB Nate Hobbs (knee).

Returning from injuries: S Zayne Anderson (knee), WR Savion Williams (hamstring), DE Barryn Sorrell (knee).

Williams, who missed all three preseason games, Anderson, who was injured early in the first preseason game, and Sorrell, who was interested early in the second preseason game, took part in individual drills while reporters were present.

Jenkins practiced last week but did not practice on Monday. He had missed the end of training camp with a back injury.

Receivers Jayden Reed (foot) and Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and guard Aaron Banks (back), who missed the end of camp with injuries but practiced last week, practiced on Monday.

Packers Trade for Superstar Micah Parsons