FRISCO, Texas — A lot has been said about the Dallas Cowboys' physicality, or lack thereof, in their three losses going into their bye week. It's been a central focus of all involved, though with varying angles of interpretation (e.g., effort? execution?) from within the locker room and the coaching staff, and Micah Parsons is one who has often weighed in on the matter.
Hoping to return from a high ankle sprain to play a part in the outcome on Sunday, Parsons already has his mind right for the cause.
His body is what must now follow, but he's watched the last two contests very closely.
"Yeah, I think we need to be better," said the three-time All-Pro pass rusher.
That statement applies to takeaways as well, something that was once and recently a staple of the Cowboys' defense, a category the defense in Dallas is struggling mightily in this season — creating a tailspin at times when combined with offensive giveaways, particularly in the red zone.
For his part, Parsons has identified why takeaways are way down through the first six games and, yes, not having the pick-six king and reigning NFL interceptions leader DaRon Bland factors into it, but that's not the only reason.
"I think we're out of position. Guys are out of position," said Parsons. "You've gotta be in position to create turnovers. Sometimes, you [aren't] going to get lucky and just swat at the ball and create those turnovers. You've gotta be in position. You've gotta tackle well, and you've gotta rally well.
"We got to get guys running to the ball more and obviously we got to put up more points. We've gotta get these teams out of these running game situations and [out of] feeling comfortable."
From initially declaring players needed to cease "trying to be Superman" and stick to their keys, assignments and roles on any given rep, his latest comments come on the heels of a 47-9 shellacking at the hands of the Detroit Lions in Week 6.
So for as much as it is the execution, or lack thereof, it's also a mindset that's haunting the Cowboys more often than not, in that they're still searching for their Mamba mentality.
"I think we've gotta go into these games and say, 'We've gotta step on somebody's neck," he said. "[It's] just the simple things: being disciplined, can't kill each other on red zone trips. Can't kill each other on third downs."
Their next major test will come by way of the San Francisco 49ers, a team that has served as the Boogeyman to the Cowboys as of late. Exiting the bye with a victory at Levi's Stadium would go a long way to righting the ship for head coach Mike McCarthy and infuse a gargantuan amount of confidence back into the veins of the roster.
In order to make that happen, however, the mentality must fuel the effort that must fuel the execution that must fuel the win.
"We can't beat ourselves," said Parsons. "San Fran, obviously they're going through their fair share of injuries but, at the same time, we have to play great football up there."
