Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has been non-committal about the status of new defensive end Micah Parsons. While general manager Brian Gutekunst stated last Friday that Parsons will “help us in some form or fashion” versus the Detroit Lions in Week 1, LaFleur said “we’ll see” when it came to Parsons’ Week 1 game participation ahead of Wednesday’s practice. Parsons was officially listed as limited for Green Bay’s practice yesterday.
According to ESPN’s NFL insider Dan Graziano, who just
dropped his Week 1 notebook, he’s not buying it, though:
Based on everything I’ve been told this week, I would be shocked if Parsons doesn’t play in some fashion for the Packers against the Lions on Sunday. It’s too soon for Parsons to know the entire defense, and he probably isn’t in football shape yet since he didn’t practice in training camp. But the Packers should be able to draw up a play package that maximizes Parsons’ impact as an edge rusher in key situations, then continue ramping him up during the early weeks of the season.
For what it’s worth, Parsons’ back injury aside, Khalil Mack played 70 percent of the Chicago Bears’ defensive snaps in his debut with the team after an eight-day turnaround. Parsons will have 10 days to prepare from the day he was traded to Green Bay to when he’ll be asked to produce against the Lions.
Later on in the article, ESPN’s Adam Schefter had this note on the Packers’ defense:
Also, don’t be surprised if Green Bay eventually moves former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness inside in certain packages as Parsons gets acclimated. Van Ness’ frame (6-foot-5, 272 pounds) gives him some positional flexibility.
The Packers played some 4-3 under and even 3-4 looks out of 4-3 personnel this preseason. What they did in those spots was kick Van Ness to what amounts to a defensive tackle position and played the Sam/strongside linebacker on the line of scrimmage like an edge rusher. I’m assuming that in these looks, the strongside linebacker will be Parsons, with Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper playing off-ball linebacker.
