For weeks, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur gave the same response about when edge defender Micah Parsons would return to practice:

Not this week, not this week.

On Tuesday, ahead of the “Thursday Night Football” game against the Carolina Panthers, the message finally shifted. LaFleur was asked whether Parsons could return to practice after the Panthers game, and the tone is different.

“I sure hope so,” LaFleur said.

When asked about the difference, LaFleur said there’s a chance, but it still depends on the Packers’ medical staff.

“At the end of the day, that’s the medical. So, yeah, I’m itching at it though, for sure,” LaFleur added. “I’m saying there’s a chance.”

His new answer definitely offers a much more positive sign about Parsons’ injury timeline than anything the Packers have shared this season.

A different answer after weeks of waiting

Since the start of the season, it was clear Parsons wouldn’t be ready to practice right away. LaFleur never hid that, and the weekly “not this week” became a routine part of his press conferences. Parsons is technically eligible to have his 21-day practice window opened since after Week 2, but that was never a realistic target.

That’s why Tuesday’s answer matters. For the first time, LaFleur expressed hope that Parsons can get back on the practice field during Green Bay’s mini-bye following the Thursday game. Most importantly, it means the Packers could open his 21-day practice window as soon as next week, giving a clearer timeline for his actual comeback to games.

Parsons is already eligible to come off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. He also cleared, by a comfortable margin, the nine-month threshold the Packers use before putting a player back into football activities after knee injuries that go beyond a clean ACL tear. Parsons suffered his injury on Dec. 14, 2025, and had surgery on Dec. 29. Therefore, it has been almost 10 full months since the procedure, and the progression in LaFleur’s comments shows Parsons is getting closer to a return.

Projecting a return date

So, what does that mean for the calendar? If Green Bay opens Parsons’ practice window next week, it would come ahead of the Week 9 game against the New England Patriots.

Even if the Packers take full advantage of the entire three-week window, Parsons could realistically return right after the bye week against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12. That would be a sensible projection for the team, because it gives the medical staff time to evaluate him in practice without rushing the process. Green Bay doesn’t have to activate him the moment the window opens, and the front office has every reason to be patient with a player coming off a major knee injury.

The Packers badly need Parsons back, despite obviously not wanting to rush him back. Adding him in the second half of the season would work essentially like a midseason acquisition, without spending any extra draft capital or cap space to do it.

LaFleur’s caution remains, and the medical staff will have the final say. However, after weeks of the same answer, the head coach finally offered something new. For a team planning a playoff push, that change in tone is the clearest indication yet that Parsons’ return is coming into focus.