GREEN BAY — Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley offered a bold prediction regarding Micah Parsons’ eventual return from the torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended the superstar pass rusher’s season prematurely.
“If I were a betting man, I would bet that he comes back even better and probably breaks the sack record next year,” Hafley said Wednesday.
Hafley also is bullish about the Packers’ chances of continuing to play quality defense even without Parsons, who suffered the left knee injury in the third quarter of the Packers’ 34-26 road loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
The Packers (9-4-1) play their first full game without Parsons this season when they visit the Chicago Bears (10-4) on Saturday with the NFC North lead at stake.
“We’ve got really good players, we’ve played good defense and we’re going to continue to play good defense,” Hafley said. “Our guys understand that, and I think it’s important for everyone to understand that these guys have a lot of pride, and they’re going to get even closer because of this. And they’re going to play well.”
Statistics suggest the Packers defense could struggle without Parsons, who had a team-high 12½ sacks.
Although the Packers have allowed the sixth-fewest yards per game (294.6) and eighth-fewest points per game (20.1) in the NFL, their game against the Broncos exposed their vulnerability when they’re not applying a consistent pass rush. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix wasn’t sacked as he threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns.
Parsons’ league-high 83 quarterback pressures, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, are nearly twice the total of any other Packer. They will need former first-round picks Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness to recapture the form they showed early in the season when they capitalized on all the attention offenses were giving to Parsons.
Gary ranks second on the team with 42 pressures, but all 7½ of his sacks this season came in the first seven games. Van Ness had 1½ sacks in the first five games, then missed seven of the Packers’ next eight games with a foot injury. Van Ness returned to play 22 snaps and post two tackles against the Broncos.
Gary said the Packers plan to play the rest of the season in a way that would impress Parsons.
“The No. 1 thing is, he wants us to turn the page and continue to play ball and get wins,” Gary said.
The Packers still have many of the key players from a defense that ranked fifth in yards allowed and sixth in points allowed last season. That gives them confidence they can still contain offenses even without Parsons chasing quarterbacks.
The Packers did send three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys in the trade that got them Parsons. They also lost Devonte Wyatt, whose four sacks rank third on the team, to a season-ending ankle injury.
Yet they still have confidence they can continue to thrive without Parsons.
“We’ve still got the pen in our hand,” Gary said. “We can still write our story.”
If the Packers can pick up the slack and make a deep postseason run after losing Parsons, they should feel even better about themselves next year, whenever they get him back. Hafley said he expects the 26-year-old to come back better than ever.
After Hafley talked about the possibility of Parsons breaking the single-season sack record next year, he was asked if he specifically meant the league record. Michael Strahan set that record with 22½ in 2001 and T.J. Watt tied that mark 20 years later, though the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett has 21½ with three games remaining.
Hafley didn’t back down from his faith in Parsons or the rest of his players.
“He’s the type of guy — give Micah adversity and watch what happens,” Hafley said. “Give our defense and give our team adversity, and watch what happens. We’ll find out.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/green-bay-packers-micah-parsons-jeff-hafley/
