Why Packers' Micah Parsons hasn't returned from his torn ACL - ESPN

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A few hours apart on Dec. 14, 2025, Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons went down in a heap. First, in Kansas City, the Chiefs quarterback's season was over after his left knee hyperextended on a scramble. Less than 2½ hours later in Denver, the Green Bay Packers' pass rusher stumbled without contact and immediately grabbed his left knee.

Two star players. Two ACLs ripped apart. Two vastly different recoveries.

When Chiefs rookies and quarterbacks reported for training camp on July 24, Mahomes was fully cleared. From that day on, he has had no reported issues.

For Parsons and the Packers, the process has taken much longer. More than three months after Mahomes was cleared, Parsons remains on the physically unable to perform list with no set date for a return to play. However, coach Matt LaFleur this week offered the first hint at when Parsons might return when he said there's a chance he could start practicing next week.

«The fans always want to know, 'Why is it taking so long?'» said Dr. Michael J. Alaia, a sports orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Health. «When you do enough ACLs, you just know the variability of the recovery can be so vast, and every patient brings their own set of physical and psychological needs.»

Parsons was never going to be ready for Week 1, even if he had undergone surgery the day after his injury like Mahomes did. Not only did Parsons wait two weeks for his surgery, but the Packers almost never put a player recovering from a torn ACL on the practice field until nine months after the date of surgery.

Tight end Tucker Kraft, who tore his right ACL on Nov. 2, had one of the fastest returns to practice by a Packers player in recent years: 8½ months from the date of his surgery (271