FRISCO, Texas — The NFL is a league of challenges and those who can overcome them best usually end up immortalized in Canton and/or with a championship(s). Micah Parsons has a goal to achieve both of those things with the Dallas Cowboys, and he's being tested early and often in his already impressive career.
For the third time in as many years, there will be a new defensive coordinator in Dallas, as Matt Eberflus returns to take on the role following a one-year reunion with Mike Zimmer, who returned following Dan Quinn's decision to depart for the Washington Commanders.
That's three coordinators in Parsons' four seasons in the NFL, and he has still produced no fewer than 12 sacks in a single season, despite missing four games due to a high ankle sprain in 2024.
"It's just learning a new system and getting another coach's adjustments to how I like to play, what I like to do… and implicate me," said the four-time Pro Bowler after spending the morning with Make-A-Wish children at the Great Wolf Lounge in Grapevine. "Obviously, it is challenging with a third [defensive coordinator] and [another change] is obviously not the greatest thing in the world but, I mean, that's part of being a pro.
"You've got to make adjustments."
Acclimating quickly to what Eberflus and his completely overhauled defensive staff will expect and look to do will be aided by Parsons' decision on OTAs and other voluntary portions of the Cowboys' offseason program.
Absent from last year's, the three-time All-Pro has already made it clear he will not hold out of training camp in the event contract talks stretch out or stall; but that he also plans to attend OTAs and the like.
That was a stance he took in late 2024 and, speaking in early 2025, he still holds firm to that plan — going on to detail some of the items he's looking to work on this offseason.
"I wanna get a little stronger," he said. "I get a little more powerful. There are some things that I wanna work on that I'm implementing into my offseason program. I always try to ask some new things, so I'm gonna try to bring back a little bit more power."
With so much change and so many challenges facing Parsons and the Cowboys this year, he's looking to show, once again, that change and adaptation do not phase him.
Losing, on the other hand, definitely does.
