FRISCO, Texas — There's a solid chance the Dallas Cowboys will be without both DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons, though for differing lengths of time. While Lawrence is likely heading to injured reserve, where he'll be sidelined a minimum of four games, Parsons is listed as "week to week" and could take the field much sooner.
That is, of course, all to-be-determined over the next several days or more, however, and, for his part, Parsons is obviously coming to terms with the possibility of not being on the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"It's just frustrating, for real," he said. "You put a lot of energy into getting ready and being there for the team, so being out, this hurts me because I'm letting people down. I'm just letting people down. I figured myself invincible for a while.
"It's humbling. It's part of the test that I was talking about. It's faith. Gotta come back strong."
Though he's not yet been ruled out for Week 5, Parsons understands there's a solid chance he will be.
"It's just going to come down to how I'm attacking this and getting right with head trainer Jim Maurer], and getting ahead of this so that way I can get back as fast as possible. I'm just trying to get back as fast as possible, but I don't want it to linger."
There is a bye week incoming for Parsons and the Cowboys that will help form their opinion of when to put him back onto the field, but that is two games away, as the Detroit Lions get set to visit AT&T Stadium on Oct. 13 — the Cowboys trying to avoid a four-game losing streak at home that stretches back to the playoff loss in January.
Any time missed by Parsons will mark his first due to injury. He missed a game in 2021, his rookie season, due to COVID protocol, but nothing before and nothing since.
"Never," said the three-time Pro Bowler. "Never in my whole life. I've never missed a game. I've played hurt and through pain so, to me, playing through hurt isn't really the problem."
That's because, as any NFL athlete will tell you, there's a difference between being hurt and being injured and, this time around, Parsons is injured, not simply hurt.
"I was trying to shake back," he said. "I got into the office and Jim was like, 'Yeah, you're probably not going to be able to go [vs. Steelers]. ... Probably makes sense to some [to sit out until after the bye week] but when you are a real competitor, like I said, you only get 17 chances at this, and missing one of these opportunities to perform at the highest level bothers me. I feel like I want to play on Sunday.
"I want to play. If I can play, I will play. To me, as long as I can run and move how I want to move, I want to play."
And, should he be sidelined, he has a simple message for those who'll be tasked with trying to replace him, and Lawrence, until further notice.
"It's time to man up," said Parsons. "We talk about next man up mentality?
"It's time."
