Getty Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones at SoFi Stadium on October 16, 2023.
Jerry Jones is fed up with how NFL officials are handling Dallas Cowboys star edge rusher Micah Parsons.
Parsons has repeatedly made it clear that he believes he is frequently being held but that officials are leaving their penalty flags in their pockets and not blowing their whistles.
Jones said he agreed, taking aim at the refs during his weekly appearance on 105.3 FM The Fan.
“I don’t think the intent is to take a player of his skill and limit him,” Jones said on December 26. “He gets officiated, not differently, but most players that don’t get those holds … Micah doesn’t get them. [Other players can’t] get to the quarterback. Micah can; therefore, it is restricting to him.”
Meanwhile, Parsons was flagged for a controversial roughing the passer penalty in the latter stages of the Cowboys’ Christmas Eve loss to the Miami Dolphins, a call that he took exception to after the game.
“[The ref] said my intent was to punish the quarterback,” Parsons told reporters after the game. “How am I trying to punish him if I’m just trying to sack him? It’s not like it was a late hit. It’s not like I’m leaving my feet. I didn’t lead with my head. I don’t know how you make that call.”
Parsons has already produced 13 sacks this season, along with 97 total quarterback pressures, bolstering his status as one of the game’s most disruptive pass-rushers.
However, he hasn’t drawn a holding flag since mid-October, according to the the Dallas Morning News..
“They won’t call a holding penalty in a certain range of holding,” Jones added. “Usually, if they don’t think the player would’ve gotten to the quarterback to begin with. That doesn’t work for Parsons because he’s about to get there almost all the time. Anything that just limits him should be a hold.”
Micah Parsons Approaching Career High in Sacks
With two regular season games remaining, Parsons can post a new career high in sacks.
Back in 2022, Parsons logged 13.5 sacks and can surpass that total over the Cowboys’ final two games against the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders.
Both contests could prove critical to Dallas’ seeding in the NFC playoffs.
Parsons’ success is powered by his league-best 38% pass-rush win rate, according to ESPN, despite drawing double teams on a league-high 30% of snaps.
Lions QB Jared Goff Has Plenty of Respect for Micah Parsons
The Cowboys will host the Detroit Lions on December 30 in a game that is pivotal to both teams’ flickering hopes of finishing the season as the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff enters Week 17 having passed for 3,984 yards with 27 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 98.3 passer rating while leading Detroit to its first division crown since 1993.
But Goff knows that for the Lions’ offense to have success inside AT&T Stadium, it starts with keeping Parsons out of the backfield.
“He’s a dangerous player,” Goff told reporters. “Their advantage with him is that they can move him around. They do a bunch of stuff with him. He can do a hell of a lot and we’ve got to be aware of where he’s at.”
Goff and the Lions aim for a third consecutive victory, and to avenge a 24-7 loss to the Cowboys back in 2022.