DE or LB? Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons doesn’t care: ‘If you’re a dog, you’re a dog’
The Dallas Cowboys (3-0) have hit the “Where’s Waldo?” portion of the defensive game planning when it comes to rookie sensation Micah Parsons as they prepare for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers (3-0).
Parsons started at middle linebacker in the 31-29 season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before moving to defensive end out of necessity for the next two games — 20-17 and 41-21 victories against the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles.
So where will he play on Sunday?
“Man, I can’t give that stuff away,” Parsons said. “I want the Panthers to be on edge.”
On the edge or at linebacker, Parsons has been the Cowboys’ most valuable defender in all three games and he gives the Panthers a good reason to worry.
But in his mind, it’s not about finding Waldo and keeping a team guessing, it’s about letting him be a dog and unleash his play-making skills with tenacity and relentless ferocity.
He says he is going to make an impact no matter where he plays.
“I’m just out there. ... I don’t believe it really should matter,” Parsons said. “I mean, you look at [Rams CB Jalen] Ramsey. He played outside corner now he’s playing nickel. If you’re a dog, you’re going to be a dog. It shouldn’t matter where you’re at on the field. You should have unbelievable effort and the tenacity to go out there and try to win the game for the team.”
While the Cowboys drafted Parsons with the 12th overall pick with the primary plan of playing him off the ball as a middle linebacker, their main focus was allowing him to be an impact player, coach Mike McCarthy said.
“That was the term that we continued to speak of him and how we would utilize him,” McCarthy said.
The Cowboys started him at middle linebacker in the season opener but the plan was to use him all over the defense as edge rusher on passing downs, blitzing from the middle and covering tight ends and running backs.
They were forced to use him at defensive end the past two games because of injuries to DeMarcus Lawrence and Dorance Armstong and loss of Randy Gregory for the Chargers game due to COVID-19.
“Ideally, that’s the way you like to play him,” McCarthy said of Parsons at middle linebacker. “But he’s doing an excellent job adjusting with the opportunity he has now to play on the line of scrimmage more.”
McCarthy compared Parsons to how they played Clay Matthews when he was coaching with the Green Bay Packers.
McCarthy said that the Packers drafted Matthews to be an outside linebacker rushing the quarterback in a 3-4 defense. They then moved him to middle linebacker.
The Cowboys are doing a sort of reverse by moving Parsons from the middle to the role of pass rusher at defensive end.
The focus, however, is the same.
“But clearly with rookies and how you utilize them in your defense, it’s a very similar approach,” McCarthy said. “You want to make sure those guys have plenty of opportunities to impact the game.”
Parsons is certainly doing that and showing off his versatility, playing 18 run defense snaps, 38 pass rush snaps and 31 pass coverage snaps in 2021.
He is tied for the team lead in sacks and leads the team in quarterback pressures and quarterback hits.
Pro Football Focus has credited Parsons with 15 quarterback pressures on the season, which ties for ninth in the NFL.
He has the 10th-highest pass-rush/win-rate among any linebacker at 23.5 percent. His run stop percentage of 21.1 is tied for third among NFL linebackers, per PFF.
“I like doing it all,” Parsons said. “There are no limits.”
Said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: “He’s as pure as mother’s milk. He just basically steps out there and gives you everything he’s got. Nature gave him skills and, boy, does he know how to use them.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 7:49 AM.
