FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys got away with not having Micah Parsons in their rain-soaked 20-17 road win at the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5. However, Week 6 was a much different story as the Detroit Lions bludgeoned the Cowboys, 47-9, at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas is now 3-3 following its Week 7 bye, and thanks to Parsons treating the off week with the utmost sense of urgency by rehabbing at The Star -- the team's facility -- every day during the week, he's getting closer to a return.
"He's doing good. He was in here every day. Going through rehab," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday of the three-time All-Pro edge rusher. "Micah is making progress."
Parsons described his status for Dallas' game at the 3-4 San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night as "still in the air." The Cowboys need him and all the help they can get returning to Levi's Stadium, a place where they were embarrassed 42-10 on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 5 last season.
"Rehabbing, doing everything I possibly can to get back on the field," Parsons said on Monday. "It's still in the air. Obviously it's more than just me. I have to clear it with [director of rehab] Britt [Brown], the coaches, the head coach. They want to make sure obviously because there's so many more games like that I come back at the best result. So sometimes it's not always the players, it's more of the people, the higher pay grade."
McCarthy is one of the people who has the responsibility to weigh in on Parsons playing Sunday night, and he revealed what he needs to see from his start edge rusher by the end of the week. It doesn't necessairly involve seeing Parsons in full uniform during the week.
"Well, there's always a threshold of return to play," McCarthy said Thursday. "He's not over that threshold yet. Until he can get out there and cut it loose, I think when you have veteran players, the general is if they don't practice on Saturday they're not going to play in the game. If you're looking for a finish line, it would be full participant player in Saturday's practice. Obviously, you'd like to have him go in pads first on Thursday, but Micah has played a lot of football for us. He has a high understanding of our defense. That's kind of a general approach that I've always taken."
The 2023 quarterback pressures leader, Parsons said he wasn't close to playing in Week 6 against the Lions, but he has made some strides in his rehab work over the last week. Parsons' biggest gains over the last week have been both mental and physical: "Getting the sense of how I explode back. Acceleration and things like that. That was the biggest thing for me."
"I don't think there's anything I can't do physically," Parsons said. "It's just more they want to make sure I'm at my best, and they kind of know what my best looks like. It's just one thing I just got to keep working and showing it. They monitor the situation."
This current stretch of time Parsons is missing is the first of his entire football career -- from Pop Warner though the NFL -- that he is out with an injury. That's why he felt he was "letting people down" when he first found out he was missing Week 5 because of his high ankle sprain. Standing on the sidelines is still eating him up inside after missing all of Weeks 5 and 6.
"It's humbling," Parsons said. "It's kind of one of them things where you kind of wish you were out there with your brothers. Whether it's good or bad, especially during the hard times. Because that kind of build relationships, that builds the brotherhood. It's kind of hard to put your judgment there because you're not physically, can't tell what's going on. It's been a challenging time for me. It's been a lot of time for me to reflect on myself and how I can get better and what things I can do to help this team get better. I'm using this time away. I just can't wait to get back out there."
The biggest growth area for Parsons has been how to better maximize his impact when he is healthy, so that he can best support some of the Cowboys defensive linemen like Mazi Smith (2023 first-round pick), Chauncey Golston (2021 third-round pick) and Tyrus Wheat (2023 undrafted free agent), who are receiving the first consistent playing time of their NFL careers.
"Just how I can make others around me better," Parsons said. "I think about watching the film. ... things I could do better to set others up to win better and things like that. Because at the end [of the day], we need everyone. It's a good thing these guys are getting the experience that they can right now."
