How Many Stars Will Packers Be Missing in Week 1 Against Vikings?

The Vikings might able to take advantage of a shorthanded Packers team in the season opener.

Nov 23, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) gets by Minnesota Vikings guard Will Fries (76) during the first half at Lambeau Field. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Yes, it's a long ways away. But it's never too early to start thinking about Week 1 of the NFL season, especially when the game in question is the 132nd all-time meeting between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. The countdown is on until 3:25 p.m. on Sunday, September 13th at U.S. Bank Stadium. The energy is going to be through the roof.

And the Vikings might be positioned nicely to start a critical 2026 season off with a victory over their division rivals. The Packers are a very talented team, but they're going to be without at least one of their star players — and quite possibly more.

Micah Parsons, one of the NFL's premier pass rushers, confirmed on Wednesday that he's going to begin the 2026 season on the Physically Unable to Perform list as he recovers from last year's torn ACL. That means the earliest he'll play is in Week 5 against the Bears.

That's good news for the Vikings. Parsons, who has at least 12 sacks in all five of his NFL seasons and has four top-three finishes in defensive player of the year voting, absolutely annihilated the Vikings at Lambeau Field last season. He had a pair of sacks and four total pressures on J.J. McCarthy when the teams met in Week 12. Parsons also had two sacks against the Vikings in 2022 as a member of the Cowboys and four tackles for loss against Minnesota as a rookie in 2021. He's 3-0 against them.

Without Parsons and Rashan Gary, who they traded this offseason, the Packers' Week 1 depth chart at edge rusher will feature first-round bust Lukas Van Ness and a pair of recent fourth-round picks in Barryn Sorrell (2025) and Dani Dennis-Sutton (2026). On paper, that shouldn't be a group that creates many problems for Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill.

There also seems to be a real chance that Packers running back Josh Jacobs receives an NFL suspension to open the season. Regardless of the legal outcome of Jacobs' recent domestic violence arrest, the league could suspend him under the personal conduct policy. That would leave the Packers without one of their best offensive players to begin the year.

Another Packers offensive star, tight end Tucker Kraft, is ahead of Parsons' schedule as he returns from a Week 9 ACL tear. Kraft certainly has a chance to play in Week 1 against the Vikings, but it's still too early to tell if that's likely or not.

Even if the Packers are without Jacobs and/or Kraft in addition to Parsons, the Vikings obviously can't take them lightly to start the season. Still, the more star players Green Bay is missing, the clearer the path to a season-opening win becomes for Minnesota.

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