Cowboys’ Micah Parsons apologizes for Mike McCarthy comments: ‘I could have done better’ |Max Sporty|

FRISCO, Texas — Last week, Dallas Cowboys edge Micah Parsons claimed he would “just eat the fine” associated with skipping NFL-mandated media availability.

On the verge of being hit with said fine, Parsons appeared at his Thursday availability. When asked if he missed the media, he turned the question around.

“Ah, man, did you all miss me? I think it’s the other way around,” Parsons said. “I give you all food. You all need me. I see all you s—. You all s— explode a little more. I’m trying to pay you Twitter. Y “all Twitter premium?”

He also nearly busted his own Marshawn Lynch impression when asked why he showed up in the locker room during a media availability on Thursday.

“i am happy I’m in a good place. I love my children. I love my life. I’m just happy,” Parsons said.

The reason Parsons initially talked about “eating the fine” was because of his comments about Mike McCarthy’s job status that sounded like he was bashing his head coach, who is in the final season of his contract. Parsons intended to say that he felt for players like lineman Zack Martin more than McCarthy during Dallas’ 3-6 start to the year. In the future, he said he will be more careful about what he says.

“When I talk about here, I think about the Dallas Cowboys,” Parsons said. “I don’t have a point of reference. I was in high school, elementary school when Mike McCarthy was with the Packers, and I have no reference to that. So obviously no disrespect to his career and what he has done for himself as one of the winningest coaches. I could do better. I was angry and I just didn’t finish and I wasn’t as thoughtful as I usually am. I didn’t think people would take that context as it was. That’s on me. I wanted to rush out of the locker room. Next time I will be very careful about what I say. So that’s my apologies.”

Having learned his lesson, he sidestepped the question of wanting McCarthy back in 2025.

“Like I said, that’s above my salary, too,” Parsons said. “Mike McCarthy has always been good to me. He was always a good coach. He’s won me a lot of games here, and I’ve had a lot of success with him. The training stuff, I can’t really control that. You ask me the same thing about Dan [Quinn]. If someone offers Dan a lot more money, where does he go? There is a better chance. It is a business of opportunists. You see it in players. You see it in trainers. It kind of is what it is. You really don’t have a thought. You really don’t control anything.”

The three-time All-Pro then dove into a variety of topics ranging from going against his former DC Quinn, how he views the Cowboys’ down year and the challenge new Dallas defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is pushing him to meet.

Parsons ready to go “12 rounds” with Dan Quinn

Padres may have the closest relationship of any Dallas Cowboys player to former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, now the head coach of the Washington Commanders, Dallas’ Week 12 opponent. Quinn’s arrival in Dallas as its DC coincided with Parsons being selected 12th overall by the Cowboys out of Penn State in the 2021 NFL Draft. Under Quinn’s guidance, he joined Hall of Famer Reggie White as the only players since sacks were officially tracked as a statistic (since 1982) to have 13 or more sacks in each of their first three seasons.

Quinn called Parsons “paramount” to the success of Dallas’ defenses. Quinn even joined Parsons’ family in Pennsylvania with tickets to Sunday afternoon’s game in Landover, Maryland.

“Me and Q still talk to this day,” Parsons said. “He shoots me texts every week or two. More often lately. Maybe he’s trying to get inside my head a little bit. He actually helped me get tickets to the game for my family too. That shows you what type of coach DQ is and [the] type of player coach he is regardless of whether you play for him and things like that. He’s always about his guys. And that’s my guy, so it’s going to be fun playing against him.”

Parsons revealed that he already knows what Quinn’s message will be to his Commanders squad as he looks to beat his former team. Parsons, who regularly takes advantage of boxing training in the off-season, looks to be the aggressor and get the best of his former mentor.

“I know he’s going to pile them up,” Parsons said. “He’ll probably say, “It’s Shark Week. It’s Fight Night. We have to go to Round 12. We have to knock them out. Rivalry game.” I know all his spies, but I am [MMA fighter] Tommy Jones tonight. That’s how I look at it. I’m Floyd [Mayweather] this week So it’s going to be a fun game.”

Seeing similarities between 2024 Cowboys, 2021 Lions

The success of the Detroit Lions over the last four seasons makes them the current rebuilding role models of the league. Padres compared Dallas going 3-7 to Detroit going 3-13-1 in 2021. That Lions team went 11-6 against the spread that season, the third-best mark overall. NFL. Six of their nine losses that season were by one possession, and three of the Cowboys’ seven losses in 2024 were by one score.

“Just the way the cards turn,” Parsons said of the Cowboys’ injury fortunes and down year. “It reminds me of Detroit, three years ago when they were in every game but somehow ended up losing or they lost by three.”

No defense took a bigger step back from 2023 to 2024 than the Cowboys. There are a multitude of factors for the decline of Quinn to Zimmer beyond just the scheme change as diminished depth thanks to the roster management of owner/general manager Jerry Jones and a litany of injuries to key contributors such as cornerback DaRon Bland (foot stress fracture, zero games played), edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (foot injury, six games missed) and Parsons himself (high ankle sprain, four games missed).

He sees growth among his teammates and the defense with that unit putting up a better fight on a week-to-week basis despite the overall defensive drop-off.

“Overall, we’re playing better. We’re still not playing great. But we’re playing better. It’s night and day the difference in how that defensive line plays, how the linebackers play,” Parsons said. “People are getting experience. I know some of these young guys are getting the opportunity, they’re getting better… By the end of this year, you’re all going to say [defensive coordinator] Mike Zimmer didn’t have all his pieces but we sure put together a damn good defense.”

Zimmer’s leadership challenge for Parsons

Parsons has always produced on the field since entering the NFL, but Zimmer challenges him be the light of the defense as a leader with more than just his on-field actions. The 25-year-old is likely to be asked to pour even more into his younger teammates. This past offseason, Parsons opted to skip most of the Cowboys offseason program and work on his own away from the facility, calling it “my style”.

“I’m learning how to lead differently. I’m learning how to become a better leader,” Parsons said. “It’s challenging in these dark times. It’s easy when we always won. It didn’t matter who stepped up and who was the light. You could just sit and just watch everything, but now in the [down] sometimes, people look at me. You know Zim talks to me about my leadership and how I need to be better and I love that stuff because you know it bothers me when I feel like a coach is getting me down. He gave me a challenge, and I will live up to that challenge.”

It was easy for Parsons to accept the criticism of Zimmer because of his work with Hall of Famer Deion Sanders in Dallas and Houston Texans four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Danielle Hunter, whom Zimmer developed with the Minnesota Vikings. Time will tell if Parsons’ leadership will pay long-term dividends in Dallas.

“I wouldn’t say he [Zimmer] was disappointed, but he always tells me stories about the great players he had. He tells me how I can be one of the best players he’s had, and the things I need to do and how I’m scraping for every inch of the game that I can take from it,” said Parsons. . . .” He is taking [a different approach] because many coaches [are] like, ‘man, I don’t care. This guy is talented. He does enough.’ But when you have a guy who wants to say, ‘hey, man, like I don’t want that for you. I want better for you.’ Then yes, I will always accept that. It would upset me and do me a disservice if I didn’t appreciate that.”