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Welcome to NFL Live, where we begin with breaking news out of Green Bay. Micah Parsons, who tore his ACL late last season, announced he has four more months to go before he gets on the field, which would put him on the pup list to start the season. That could make the return date in mid October. We'll start here taking a listen to what he had to tell reporters himself today. The goal for me is to complete the season. not no relapse, not no um and playoffs and pushing towards the championship. The goal isn't for me um to go out there and reheurt myself trying to force myself to be back in the first few games. The goal has always been playoffs and I think we're all on the same page.
Our Packers reporter Rob Deowski joining us now. And hey Rob, lots of info for us to unpack here. Was this a new development for the team or is this just the first time we're hearing an accurate timeline publicly? Yeah, Micah Parson's initial hope that he could play within the first month of the season was never realistic and the team knew it. It's simple math really. He was injured on December 14th. He had surgery on December 29th and they have a nine-month rule where an ACL rehab guy doesn't do anything and that includes practice for nine months following the surgery. If he starts the season on PUP,
he's automatically out the first four games. That pushes us into early October and there's a very little chance the Packers would allow him to play with just one week of practice. So that probably makes week five against the Bears out. Next up would be week six against his old team, the Cowboys, on October 18th. Now, all that being said, that doesn't mean that Parsons is behind schedule. In fact, he said he's on schedule and he feels very good. So much so that his doctors told him because of who you are, you're going to feel good. But what we've got to do is prevent you from feeling too good. Translation, don't do too much too soon. Laura, yeah, with these star players, I mean,
we're seeing it with Patrick Mahomes. It's obviously different players, different injuries in some ways, but they want to get back on the field as we might imagine. Thanks to Rob Damski for the latest there. And the Packers first eight games of the season will be from September to October. Rob alluding to some of the schedule here, but assuming Parsons is ready mid-occtober. Look at this. Prime time in Dallas. Could be the first time we see him. How fitting. Of course, that's the way it goes, right? The Packers have the 12th easiest first eight games this season per ESPN analytics. So, for whatever that's worth, maybe there's a way they can get through without him for a while, have
him come in and make a big impact. We're glad that you're with us today here on NFL Live and we've got a ton to get to. Chase Daniel in the house. Jason McCordy and Field Yates. Guys, uh let's talk about Micah Parsons. Jac, how does this affect the first third of the season for Green Bay in your mind? I mean, it's massive. We go back to a year ago when Micah Parsons gets injured. They don't win another football game. The pressure that they were getting on the quarterback falls down and they're not able to get over the hump. So then you look at some of the moves they've made in the offseason. and you say to yourself, "All right, well, have they done a lot of things to get better in that department knowing he's
not going to be there?" Cat restraints really didn't allow them to do that. They brought in Zier Franklin, uh, Javon Hargrave, but they also lost Shawn Garry, Quay Walker. So, they weren't able to really patch those things up. So, to me, you are very concerned. There's some division games in that mix. easy schedule. You may say that, but not having a guy like Micah Parsons on the field, not only the pressure that he gets on the quarterback, but how much he helps the guys around him to be able to get home, especially the guys in the secondary, he was pretty clearly the second best defensive player in the NFL last year.
Obviously, Miles Garrett was the best. Now, the Los Angeles Rams, Miles Garrett, by the way. Uh, but yes, it was a gigantic problem last season. The numbers you just saw right there kind of beared out just how bad it was when Micah Parsons wasn't on the field. And part of the reason why I think the Green Bay felt comfortable making Rashan Gary expendable this offseason. Remember Gary very briefly announced his release from the Packers on Instagram. Then he said he got hacked. Then he got traded a day later. Offseason file on exciting. Yes. Uh but the Packers did not have a number two rusher that did anything to threaten opposing
quarterbacks this past season. So, they need to find out whether their 2025 draft class and to a degree deny Dennis Sutton, who they took in the fourth round this year, have any chance to give them a secondary rusher chase. Uh, it's asking a lot out of only day three picks. There's no day one or day two investments that Green Bay has made over the past two drafts to fill in this hole. And those draft picks are going to have to show up early and often, right? You're you look at him 37% of the time he was off the field last year. Well, you knew this was going to happen, but you got to have your team grow. That's how the Green Bay Packers always are.
They like to grow through the draft. And I think when you look at it from a schematic standpoint, when you are a quarterback, you're like, "Oh, I have that extra half second more to throw the football." And with Micah, he's not only a great pass rusher, but he's really good against run to. He makes that whole entire front, that 4-3 front go. And I think when you're looking at a timeline to return, yes, it's going to stink. Yes, they're going to lose some production. Can they score enough points? But I think for him it's way more important if we think this roster is as good as we think it is to really heat up on the back end of the season, right? To not rush him in even if it is
prime time versus the Cowboys. You want to make sure he's full go for a playoff run, which I think the Packers can be at. Yeah, he emphasized that as well. So, it's good to see that's f first and foremost in his brain. I mean, the other thing, too, is the Packers will just be healthier in general, even aside from Micah. They had so many injuries at key positions. All right, back to the massive blockbuster, excuse me, trade from Monday. I said, excuse me. Okay, my bad.
Miles Garrett is officially a Ram arriving there and he did his press conference yesterday. Now, it's time to get to work. Something a player like Miles Garrett relishes in. Garrett on if there's added pressure on him now that he's in LA. That's always been my role since I stepped foot into the NFL. So, nothing changes for me. No, I don't feel any pressure to be anything else or be anything different as long as I'm myself and I come here to work every day and I'm a leader. No, the success will follow. On paper, I'm sure, you know, things look great, but you know, we got to go out there and put the work in. It starts in the field, starts in the classroom, and uh, you know, we're not going to take a single day for granted.
We're not going to be looking at any uh, no odds or favorites. You know, we're going to, you know, win each game day by day. Garrett has statistically been the best defensive player in football since his NFL debut in 2017. He leads the NFL in sacks and QB pressures since then with 10 more sacks than any other player. Garrett joins a Rams defense that was already top 10 in pass rushing last year. And uh just don't look now. What if uh we see I said it. We'll talk about that in a minute. We're going to hear from Lesne and we'll talk about that in a minute.
First of all, Chase, what kind of impact will Miles Garrett make on the Rams in your mind? He's going to make an immediate impact. I mean, this is a team we're talking about that was five points away from the Super Bowl without the best player in the NFL, defensive player of the year. Now, you're joining the MVP on the offensive side of things. My biggest thing is like the scary part of Miles Garrett's production, which 23 sacks last year, record, it all came with his team from behind. So, teams are running
the football more. When you look at this Rams team, they're going to be playing with a lead most of the year. What does that mean, J? Hey, more opportunities to sack the rusher. Also, you look at that entire defensive line, Kobe Turner, Puna Ford, Byron Young coming off a career year with 12 sacks. Look, every championship contender, which everyone could probably say this is the championship contender, Super Bowl contender without question right now on paper as we're sitting here on June the 3rd. Every one of those teams need a closer. You could arguably say that now the Rams have the best offensive closer with Matthew Stafford and best defensive closer of football games with Miles Garrett. You put those
four together, they're going to get after the passer. I love what you're saying. And they have some new guys in the secondary. And I see a guy like Miles Garrett. I was there in 2017 when the Browns drafted him. His first practice, he just got off the line of scrimmage. I looked at Jamar Taylor, the other quarterback. I was like, "We're going to be all right this year. at least in the secondary. We'll figure something out. Exactly. And like you said, the Rams last year averaged 30 points per game. He's coming from Cleveland who averaged 16 points per game. So that's a massive difference. But I think the fit of it is what's huge because you look at the Rams
a year ago, they got a ton of pressure without blitzing. They were able to get home and that was without a guy like Miles Garrett who did most of his damage from just a fourman rush. So you look at this here, you're looking at the Browns who are on this list largely because they had a player who had 23 sacks and they were doing that without blitzing and getting home. So now you go up two spots and you joins the uh Rams. Look at what they're going to be able to do. Those guys in the secondary are going to be able to sit on routes, read the quarterback, and be more aggressive than they were a year ago when the latter part of the season they gave up a ton of points.
It makes you just so happy for Miles Garrett, too. think about what he's about to experience and potentially winning a championship. We'll see if they can do it. Phil, the Rams have shown us this F them pick strategy is going strong. In fact, it makes you wonder why more teams don't try to do it. Maybe we'll see a little bit more of it, but what do you think of the approach that they've had to the draft and how they've used all this picks, first round picks, premium picks have been hoarded for a long time, right? Teams think about training them and it's trading them. It's almost sacrilegious. It's refreshing to see the Rams go about it how they feel is the right way to go about it. Go back to 2016 when they took Jared Goff in the
first round. Over the past 11 drafts, including this year, the only first rounder still on the roster is Ty Simpson. Like, this is crazy. Like, think about how many teams have made a hoorde of picks in the first round. Since that time, the Rams, I think, do something that too many teams don't do in the NFL, which is operate without fear. I think one of the reasons why trading a first round pick is scary to NFL teams is that if you fail, it is going to be so obviously perceived by the public as like you had a first round pick, you gave it up for this guy. That was dumb. Should have never done that.
Right? Think back to like the Sam Darnold trade for a first round pick from Philly to Minnesota. Like a highlever trade that perhaps didn't work out to how a normal first round pick could potentially work out. The Rams screw it, we're going to figure it out. Now, some of that's probably the Shawn McVey factor, right? He's such a darn good coach that even if your roster is not as good as everybody else's and even if you have fewer resources to work with, he's going to find a way to get you to double digit wins plus a great front office. But, uh, it's a team that almost operates like an NBA team while the other 31 NFL teams operate largely like NFL teams.
Yeah, that's a good analogy, a good way to look at it. Now, I mentioned this earlier and you guys told me don't say it. The fact that Aaron Donald could potentially return, but let's hear from the Rams GM Lesne Sneeed. this new on NFL Live. He spent some time on the Pat McAfee show just a little while ago and was asked about a possible Aaron Donald return. Listen to this. Sean has had conversations with Aaron. He still communicates with Aaron a good bit. The neat thing about it is I do think for the first time, right, Aeron's like, "Oh, wait a minute. I don't think he's actually thought that
since he did retire." If you know Aaron, Aaron's just at his core, at his DNA, he feels like if he doesn't think he's one of the best on the field, he probably doesn't want to be on the field. So, I think he's actually enjoyed retirement. But, you know what? He said he left and his tank was full. Maybe it's getting a little bit less full, Pat. So, keep texting. I mean, he's not closing the door on it at all. And Jmack, you don't need him out there every single down. Just give him some breaks. Let him come in.
10 games. He got to play. Why the hell else he got all that equipment in his house? He don't need all of that to still be in shape and just look good. Were those 140s just like pumping them out. They were about as much as you weigh. Come on now. Get yoke. Like I don't even need that many snaps. I don't even I don't I need 10 games. Like I need 10 games and I need 25 snaps a game with you and Miles and P and like all those.
You talk about a closer that Miles Garrett can be. This is like the icing on top of the closer potentially. I don't want to diminish Aaron Donald that way, but goodness. All right, we'll keep an eye on it.
