Christian Watson and Tucker Kraft of the Green Bay Packers both returned to the field around nine months after suffering ACL tears, but All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons is only just now returning to the practice field, roughly 11 months out from his original injury suffered in Denver last December.
Why did his recovery take so much longer?
Following his first practice of the year on Wednesday, Parsons confirmed he needed surgery to repair not only the ACL, but both the medial and lateral menisci in his knee. Because of the repairs to the meniscus, Parsons had to be on crutches for 7-8 weeks following surgery, which created massive hurdles in terms of rebuilding strength and mobility in his repaired leg.
"I had a full lateral and medial meniscus
repair including the ACL," Parsons said. "So when people (with isolated ACL tears) are walking at three weeks, I'm still not weight-bearing. So my quad was fully dead. I didn't get off crutches for 7-8 weeks. If you count those two months, I'm exactly where a nine-month (timeline) is supposed to be. That's why everyone's timelines are different. I had a lot of damage done to my leg and it's a miracle I'm standing here today and opening my (practice) window this early. Even then, we didn't even know if we'll be back by November."
Put another way, the full meniscus repair pushed Parsons' timeline back two months.
According to John Hopkins Medicine, the menisci "sit between the tibia (lower leg bone) and the femur (thigh bone) and protect the lower part of the leg from the shock created by our body weight. The medial meniscus sits on the inside of the knee and the lateral meniscus sits on the outside of the knee."
When the menisci are fully repaired surgically, patients must protect the newly repaired tissue during the early weeks of recovery -- which requires crutches and limiting the bend in the repaired knee. Because the leg is not weight bearing for multiple weeks, strength imbalances between the two legs start early and must be corrected later in the process.
Ensuring there were not significant strength and mobility imbalances was likely the final hurdle for Parsons getting back on the practice field.
Parsons said he went through and failed several tests throughout the later stages in the process, pushing back his return date. He expressed appreciation for the patience the Packers showed throughout the process and the help of head trainer Nate Weir, who guided the recovery and worked with outside specialists to minimize re-injury risk.
"It's never going to be the perfect time," Parsons said of his return.
Most importantly, Parsons said his knee "feels great" as he starts his practice window. He said his conditioning needs improvement, and he isn't going to play 50-60 snaps right away. The Packers are starting him in individual and positional drills, and he'll likely ramp up to team periods next week. As for his return to the field date, the Packers play the Los Angeles Rams exactly 21 days from Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Micah Parsons explains injury, and why his recovery took so long
