FRISCO, Texas – After making a comment that he wasn't interesting in talking a lot about the lack of holding calls he's been getting this year, Micah Parsons spent a decent amount of his press conference Wednesday, discussing the situation.
Then again, those were the majority of the questions asked his way, as the count is up to 38 consecutive quarters of play in which Parsons hasn't drawn a holding call from the opponents.
In that time, Parsons still has 9.0 sacks since that first half of the Chargers game on Oct. 16, and also 61 of his team-leading 85 quarterback pressures – but no calls.
"Yeah it's been long," Parsons said when asked if he was aware that it has been 9 ½ game since he's drawn a flag. "I can say I've been to the quarterback quite a lot in that time. It's definitely frustrated sometimes but at the end of the day, I understand it comes with the territory."
Parsons said he refuses to try and act for calls in a flopping manner because it will slow him down to eventually make a play, especially if it breaks down and he's not giving 100 percent.
"I'm not flop guy. I'm not a guy that's going to fake it, because I still believe I can make the play," Parsons said. "A lot of plays get made above the 2.3 (second average for Parsons getting to the QB).. I'm going to keep moving forward."
Parsons said he thinks officials are having a hard time making calls on him when he rushes the passer because he has a speed-element that is uncommon around the league.
"To be honest, in the most humblest way, I don't think there's another rusher like me in the league … I don't think there's a rusher that runs as quick as I do," Parsons said. "There's not another rusher that does the things I do. And that's on tape. I'm pretty sure other rushers can tell you that. (The refs) put me on the same pedestal as other rushers and it's not the same. You can't compare me to a lot of other rushers. How they scheme me vs. how they scheme other rushers it's not the same. I don't think they realize I'm 4.3 off the edge. I think the refs understand I'm a good player but don't understand the actual plays that I can make with my speed and what I can control."
When asked if he believes being as vocal about the officiating as he has during press conferences and with his weekly podcast has hurt his chances of getting calls, Parsons said that could be the case.
"Maybe, but I definitely think there's a lot of biased things around the league and who they want to call things on and how they call and who they call it (on)," he said. "I think (NFL) should have a long conversation this offseason. The film is out there. It's something they need to look it. A lot of these calls should be (reviewable). These flags are game-changing plays… But it's an offensive league, they want to keep as much points on the board as possible and as many drives alive as possible. It is what it is. At the end of the day, you have to still play."
