GREEN BAY, Wis. -- For a guy who said he's not into timelines but rather coming back as strong as possible, Micah Parsons sounded optimistic about one thing: He likes his chances of playing in the Green Bay Packers' Week 6 game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field.
"I think it's very realistic," Parsons said Tuesday.
He acknowledged, however, that there's still work to be done in his rehab from last year's torn ACL/meniscus injury sustained in Week 15.
"I wouldn't say it's not possible, but, at the same time, in these next 10 weeks -- 10, 12 weeks from now on -- we've got to do our part to make it possible," Parsons said in his first session with reporters since training camp opened last week. "It's not off the board, but we've got to put the work in."
Parsons opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list and likely will remain with that designation when the regular season opens. That means he would miss at least the first four games of the season. However, a change in the PUP rule now allows players to begin practicing after just two regular-season weeks. In the past, players could not do so for the first four weeks of the season.
Given that the Packers rarely allow players coming off ACL injuries to practice earlier than nine months after surgery, Parsons isn't likely to practice until late September. The Packers play the Chicago Bears in Week 5 (Oct. 4), followed by the Cowboys (Oct. 11).
The Packers were 9-3-1 when Parsons went down against the Denver Broncos, and they didn't win another game the rest of the way. Parsons had 12.5 sacks and, according to ESPN Analytics, led the NFL with 64 quarterback pressures despite missing the final three games.
"I think when you come out of these situations, you're either going to be better or you're worse," Parsons said. "And for me, I've done everything I possibly can to be better."
That's why Parsons said he has concentrated more on the kind of player he will be not how soon he can play.
"People are worried about the knee; they should be worried about how I'm going to play when I get back," Parsons said. "The anger, the frustration, the things that I'm going to have to let out because of how long it's been since I played.
"So I think that's what people should really worry about. Like, how great is Micah going to be when he gets back? Not about when I get back, because that's the short term. It's about how great I'm going to be, how I can help my teammates, and how far we're going to go into a playoff run."
Parsons said he has been running -- something he put on display after a training camp practice last week when he ran gassers with his fellow defensive linemen -- but said there are still several hurdles to clear, including changing directions.
This is the second straight season he has missed training camp. Last year, he did not practice with the Cowboys before he was traded to the Packers shortly before the regular season. He acknowledged that that could have played a role in his injury but said he tries not to dwell on the likely myriad contributing factors.
"I just think my body just was overloaded, which caused my knee to give out," he said. "But I don't really think [about] why the situation happened."
He likened his situation to baseball pitchers who have Tommy John surgery and come back just as strong, if not stronger.
"I think based off of how I feel at this point, I feel like a much better player in the sense of how I feel," Parsons said. "I feel more stable. I feel stronger. I probably was blind to a lot of things that I probably should have been working on that I got a chance to correct and get stronger during this process.
"For the longevity of my career ... it's almost like baseball. I talked to a baseball guy. He's like, 'We want a pitcher that kind of go through the Tommy John because it's like he got it out the way,' you know? So hopefully I got my injury out the way, and I can, based off what others try to say, give me another six to 10 years. So I'm really excited about that."
