Before the year, the Green Bay Packers sent two first-round picks and Kenny Clark to Dallas for former Penn State star Micah Parsons and made him the highest-paid defensive player in the history of the league. The swap immediately made the Packers Super Bowl contenders, but those dreams turned into a nightmare on Sunday afternoon in Denver when Parsons went down with a non-contact injury in a 34-26 loss to the Broncos.
On Monday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirmed everyone’s worst fears, reporting that an MRI revealed that Parsons suffered a torn ACL. The former Nittany Lion will be out for at least the rest of the season and is at risk of missing time at the start of the 2026 campaign as he rehabs to return from the injury.
It was a tough day all across the NFL, as hours earlier, three-time Super Bowl Champion Patrick Mahomes suffered a torn ACL in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that eliminated the Kansas City Chiefs from playoff contention.
Micah Parsons was at the top of his game with Green Bay
Though he trailed Myles Garrett, who is on pace for the NFL’s single-season sack record with 21.5 sacks, Parsons was on his way to another banner year in the prime of his career. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound edge rusher is currently fourth in the NFL with 12.5 sacks and is third in the league with 79 quarterback pressures, only behind Aidan Hutchinson and Will Anderson Jr.
By pass-rush win-rate, Parsons is also fourth, trailing Garrett, Anderson, and Hutchinson. He’s clearly in an elite class of edge rushers in the NFL, and has elite speed to match. On Sunday, Tony Romo said on the CBS broadcast that as he was pursuing Broncos’ QB Bo Nix outside the pocket, Parsons reached 19 miles per hour, the fastest speed he’s recorded in any game this season, according to Next Gen Stats’ tracking data.
Without Parsons, the Packers will likely fall out of Super Bowl contention and be forced to look to next year when he, hopefully, gets back to 100 percent.
There is a slight silver lining–if you could even call it that–for Penn State fans and their NFL rooting interests because Abdul Carter, another member of St1x C1ty, had his breakout for the New York Giants on Sunday. Carter registered a career-high seven tackles against the Commanders with three tackles for loss and a sack.
Carter has had an up-and-down rookie season after becoming the No. 3 overall pick, but he seems to be finding his footing in New York.