Mike Zimmer raves about dynamic play of Micah Parsons

The prospect of directing Micah Parsons around the football field would excite any defensive coach and new Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is no different. Zimmer is taking the reins of the Dallas defense this season, and with it, the man who has accumulated 40.5 regular-season sacks in three seasons.

This week, the Cowboys assistant opened up about Parsons and his special set of skills. Despite his dominance, Zimmer understands the trick to making Parsons the most effective edge rusher he can be is how he moves him around and the matchups he creates week to week.

“We were sitting up there again this morning talking about other things we can do with him,” Zimmer said Tuesday. “He’s such a dynamic player that, I said this the other day: ‘Offenses are always going to know where he’s at.’ They’re going to turn protections to him, have the back help chip no matter what it is.

“In a lot of the games he played last year that I watched, the offenses had a good scheme where they get two tight ends on him and all those things. So, we’re going to obviously move him around, do different things with him, but we’re going to use him some ways where we’re getting the protection turned the way we want it turned and able to win on the other side. Sometimes, we’re going to try to overload a protection where he gets a one-on-one.”

After beginning his career primarily as a linebacker, Parsons has dramatically shifted his position over the last two seasons. He now plays the majority of his snaps on the defensive line. It doesn’t sound like that’s going to change much in 2024. 

Mike McCarthy approves of Parsons’ overseas adventures

The Cowboys have been without Parsons for the beginning of the offseason workout program as he embarks on an overseas tour with fellow NFL star C.J. Stroud. According to head coach Mike McCarthy, the team isn’t taking Parsons’ absence as a slight. In fact, he encourages his young defender to “broaden his horizons” while he has the opportunity.

Last month, the former first-rounder went viral after posting footage from a sumo wrestling tutorial in Tokyo. McCarthy told reporters that he saw the video and was astounded that the sumo wrestler going up against Parsons was under 18 years old.

“Absolutely, sure did,” McCarthy said Sunday. “That man was 17 years old?”

Throughout Parsons’ travels, he’s stayed in touch with his team and his head coach. The Cowboys defender visited the Great Wall of China, held a youth football camp with Stroud in Beijing, threw out the first pitch at a Japanese baseball stadium and modeled clothes in the streets of Tokyo before returning stateside.

“We’ve been in touch,” McCarthy said. “We talked about the technique and about the experience of being over there but, hey, think about it. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so, I think any of our guys that have that type of opportunity to broaden their horizons, I’d be the first one to tell them to go.”