Cowboys' Jerry Jones says he's 'sad' for Micah Parsons after Packers star pass rusher suffers torn ACL

Jones was asked for his thoughts on Parsons' season-ending injury

The Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl dreams took a hit on Sunday, when star pass rusher Micah Parsons went down with a torn ACL in the Week 15 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Packers traded two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason for Parsons, and signed him to a four-year, $188 million extension. Green Bay was all-in for contending this season, but will have to move forward without its best defensive player.

Who won and who lost the Parsons trade will be debated for years to come, but even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones feels bad that his former star player went down with a season-ending injury. He was asked about the situation during an interview on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday. 

"I'm sad for Micah. That's quite a challenge. I wish him the very best on his recovery," Jones said, via The Athletic. "Michael Irvin said when he had his big surgery during, I think, his second year with the Cowboys, he said he realized what football really did mean to him. And he said the surgery really launched him into the best part of his career, because he got to feel what it might look like not to play again. There's a lot of ways you can couch this thing. But, Micah, I wish you the very best."

Parsons was involved in a very public contract standoff with the Cowboys this offseason, and it was chock-full of drama. Jones attempted to negotiate the historic extension outside the presence of Parsons' agent, and the Cowboys brass rubbed Parsons' camp the wrong way with several comments. For example, Jerry Jones lamented the fact that Parsons missed several games in 2024, while Stephen Jones said Parsons "has to want to be paid." It all led to Parsons requesting a trade, and that trade came to fruition on Aug. 28.

In his first season as a Packer, Parsons recorded 41 tackles, 12.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and 26 QB hits. He became the first player since sacks became an official stat in 1982 to begin a career with five seasons of at least 12 sacks, and was just 1.5 sacks away from matching his career-high of 14.

Jones is probably happy Parsons is not leading the Packers to a Super Bowl in his first season with Green Bay, but it wasn't very long ago where Parsons was one of Jones' favorite players that he regarded as key to the Cowboys' success.