GREEN BAY – For the second time in his career, Packers defensive lineman Micah Parsons has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month.
The fifth-year pass rusher took home the NFC honors for the month of October after tallying nine tackles, six quarterback hits and four sacks in three Packers victories. Parsons was previously honored with an NFC monthly award in September 2023 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys.
"He's been outstanding," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "All those guys are kind of feeding off one another. Certainly he gets a lot of attention in regards to protections and a lot of times he's defeating a chip. Then, they might even slide to him, which opens up opportunities for everybody else.
"I do think (defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley) Haf's done a really good job and D.C. (defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington) of trying to get creative in terms of you've seen him rush inside, outside. It does put a little bit of stress on the offense in regards to you're not quite sure where he's going to line."
It's the third time over the past five seasons the Packers have been honored with an NFC Defensive Player of the Month award.
Coincidentally, the previous two also came during the month of October: safety Xavier McKinney in 2024 and linebacker De'Vondre Campbell in 2021.
Acquired by Green Bay in a late-August trade, Parsons has registered 17 tackles, a team-high 14 QB hits and 6½ sacks through his first seven games with the Packers.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pound pass rusher is one week removed from claiming NFC Defensive Player of the Week after recording five tackles (four solo), a career-high three sacks, four tackles for loss (tied career high), and five QB hits (tied career best) in a 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7.
NFL Next Gen Stats credited Parsons with a career-high 11 pressures in the win over the Cardinals, the most by a Packers player since NGS began tracking pressures in 2016. He currently leads the NFL with 44 pressures this season.
Behind Parsons and fellow defensive lineman Rashan Gary (7½ sacks), it's the first time since sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982 that the Packers have had two players with 6½-plus sacks each in the first seven games of the season.
