Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys focus on win, not storyline or ‘closure’
The time is here. Micah Parsons will be back at AT&T Stadium on Sunday exactly one month after his blockbuster trade to the Green Bay Packers.
Parsons will arrive to a packed stadium in the national spotlight on “Sunday Night Football.” There won’t be a tribute video. There won’t be an opportunity for a fan embrace or standing ovation.
Instead, just like a lot of Cowboys have said this week in the locker room, along with Parsons himself, it will just be like any other game.
“Once the game starts, who’s going to be worried about any trade? It’s just me against the five men in front of me,” Parsons told reporters in Green Bay. “We have one common goal, and that’s to win the football game. ... I’m just excited for a competitive matchup on Sunday night. My fuel is always trying to be the best player. When you have a good team, you have to be the best player.”
Parsons has enjoyed a solid start to his tenure in Green Bay. He’s been able to record 1.5 sacks, and his talent has opened up pass rushing lanes for others, such as teammate Rashan Gary, who leads the NFL with 4.5 sacks entering Week 4.
Parsons knows the Dallas offensive line better than any Cowboys opponent will this season, and he sees an opportunity to get home on quarterback Dak Prescott. The two always used to compete in practice and training camp sessions in Parsons’ four years with the team, but Parsons was never able to bring him to the ground. This time, he hopes to have the chance, even if it might hurt him inside.
“It’s going to be painful,“ Parsons said. “That’s my guy. He was always like a good mentor for me, but you know how it is. He always told me if I ever faced him that it’ll be a great matchup, so I’m excited to see what Sunday brings itself.”
“I hope it’s not [painful] for me,” Prescott said. “And I hope he doesn’t get to me for one. Just getting to go out there and compete with a guy that’s a good friend, that I’ve competed with in numbers of ways throughout this building, outside of this building. I’m just excited to go and have that matchup, but he’s got five guys up front, plus tight ends and running backs, that he’s got to get through. Then, we’ll worry about if he can get to me.”
Since the trade, Parsons has kept up with his former Dallas teammates. He still checks in with cornerback Trevon Diggs at least once a week, and he offered some words of encouragement to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb after he suffered a high ankle sprain in the Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears. His relationships in Dallas still hold strong, and he expects the Cowboys’ home crowd to have similar feelings.
“I think Dallas loves me,” he said. “I think they’re going to give me a good round of applause.”
While the prime-time matchup could be billed as the Cowboys vs. Micah Parsons or Micah vs. Dak, there wasn’t a lot of sentiment around those storylines heading into the weekend. The focus remains on it being a game that counts like the rest, even if the storylines are louder.
“It’s the business of it,” Prescott said. “At the end of the day, it’s not Dak vs. Micah. Those are never the headlines and never can be. This is Dallas Cowboys vs. the Green Bay Packers, and we’ve got to go get a win.”
Parsons said: “It’s funny because I spent all training camp helping these guys. [Offensive tackle Tyler] Guyton, teaching him how to block me. it’s just going to be a fun matchup. I know he’s not going to text me this week, but he might text me after the game.”
While Sunday’s game will mark the unofficial end of the trade saga that began with Parsons requesting a trade on Aug. 1 and the deal going through on Aug. 28, it’s hard to say that there will be much finality when the clock hits all zeroes Sunday.
“I doubt it will be the closure,” Prescott said. “I doubt you’ll be done with that. Some way, somehow, it will get brought up again.”
But for the parties not involved, life has already moved on. And it will continue to move on.
“To me, the closure happened when the trade happened,” Prescott said. “As I said, to me now, it’ll just be fun to play against a friend, a great competitor, somebody I know wants to sack me. So, it’ll be fun.”
