Packers Young Edge Rushers Learning from Micah Parsons

The Green Bay Packers will be without Micah Parsons for at least the first four games of the season. His return is expected some time in mid-to-late October depending on how his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered last December progresses. While Parsons may not be playing early in the season, he has been working with some of the younger edge rushers this offseason to help them develop into better players.

Young Packers Edge Rushers Learning from Micah Parsons: The Situation

The players Parsons worked with were Collin Oliver and Barryn Sorrell. Both players were rookies in 2025 and will be counted on to play a bigger role in 2026. That will be especially true early in the season. The Packers traded Rashan Gary and Parsons will be unavailable as previously mentioned. The Packers also moved on from Kingsley Enagbare who left via free agency.

Lukas Van Ness will likely lock down one starting spot but the other starting edge spot earlier in the season remains wide open. Even if they don’t start, they will be expected to be an important part of the edge rush rotation.

Last year, Oliver missed nearly the entire season due to injury. He returned for the regular-season finale and showed flashes of pass rush ability. He made one tackle for loss and was credited with two quarterback hits.

Sorrell saw a lot more action as a rookie. He played 14 games and started one. The Texas alum recorded 15 total tackles, made 1.5 sacks and three quarterback hits. He also recovered one fumble and one tackle for loss.

Both players have to make the adjustment to playing outside linebacker as the Packers are switching to a three-man base front this year under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

Working Together and Learning

Parsons invited his young teammates down to Dallas to work with him between the end of the season and the start of OTAs.

Oliver was thrilled by the invitation. “It’s Micah Parsons,” he said, “you got to take that opportunity. It means the world, because I want to be great at this sport and he’s one of the greatest players of our generation. To learn from him and to train with him, see where his mind’s at when he’s training, what he does on a daily basis to maintain the level of play that he has, you’ve got to take up on that.”

While this was an informal workout, there is no doubt that the trio put in some hard work and Parsons admitted he wasn’t afraid to be critical of his younger teammates, although he still emphasized positivity.

“I gained little brothers in the process,” Parsons said. “I love those guys to death. One thing that I loved about them was they weren’t afraid of the hard conversations we had. Sometimes I just took them to lunch and I was like, ‘This is what you need to get better at.’ Everything’s always positive.”

Young Packers Edge Rushers Learning from Micah Parsons: Looking Ahead

The process helped create a bond between Parsons and the young edge rushers. That should pay off both on and off the field.

When asked what he learned from Parsons, Oliver was straightforward. “A lot. Not only the leader he is, but the type of person he is. He really cares about us, and he really wants us to be great, all of us to be great. That’s on the whole defense. So, I learned a lot from him as a leader and just as a person.”

Now it’s up to Oliver and Sorrell to put what they learned from Parsons to use on the field. The Packers will need them to contribute to the pass rush off the edge until Parsons gets healthy. And even after Parsons returns, having more depth at edge is always a vital part of a winning football team.

We’ll see whether Sorrell and Oliver can take a second-year jump and make a bigger contribution in 2026.