Micah Parsons injury update: Packers star still in limbo for opener vs. Lions

Micah Parsons’ first game with the Green Bay Packers will be arguably the most anticipated debut of the 2025 season. It’s not yet clear, however, whether that will take place in Sunday’s season opener against the Detroit Lions.

Parsons remained a limited participant in Thursday’s practice with a back ailment.

With his official injury designation looming Friday, the two-time All-Pro edge rusher – who was acquired in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys last week – said he had full confidence in the Packers’ coaching staff to make the right decision on his playing availability.

“I’m still ramping up,” Parsons said Thursday. “It’s a process of getting ready for football (after) being out for six months. Obviously going through the tightness, the soreness. … It’s completely up to the coaches.”

Packers coach Matt LaFleur offered no firm commitment regarding a plan for Parsons in the opener.

“We’ll see how he responds every day,” LaFleur said in a news conference when asked whether Parsons looked on track to play. “You know, again, we’re hopeful. But no guarantees.”

Micah Parsons’ injury

Parsons has been dealing with a L4/L5 facet join sprain in his back, according to multiple reports.

“It started during camp,” Parsons said of his injury. “I did a lift and I felt a tweak in it. I overused it, and that happens. It was a complete accident. There was multiple MRIs and opinions about how the injury can go. But like I said, I completed my medicine, had treatment every day, and we’ve been attacking it and being aggressive to get me healthy as quick as possible.”

Parsons passed his physical with the Packers but has been waylaid by the back problem since earlier this summer, when he waged a hold-in with the Cowboys as he sought a contract extension and then a trade. He has been treated with anti-inflammatories and could receive an injection before the game in order to play, according to multiple reports.

“What I will tell you, is that Micah is going to do everything he possibly can to get on the football field, the same way he did when he was in a Cowboys jersey,” Parsons’ agent David Mulugheta said Tuesday on ESPN’s “First Take.”