OXNARD, Calif. – For a split second, it seemed like Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn might have delivered some breaking news about Micah Parsons.
"I'm sure you probably heard he's working with the running backs with (position coach) Skip Peete," Quinn quipped to the media. "(And the) wide receivers. Kicking…"
Not really.
Quinn was joking. But the message was clear: Parsons can do just about anything he sets his mind to on the football field.
The key for Quinn is to continue finding ways to maximize the All-Pro linebacker's unique versatility as defenses surely devote more attention toward stopping him in Year 2.
"When you come into something and you're first new, they don't really know who you are," Quinn said. "That happens a lot at wide receiver where, OK, after a while this guy needs a double team. When you have an excellent player who you line up at one position, they can still make a huge impact. You see that with defensive ends all throughout time: do they chip them, do they find a way to go. What's unique about Micah, I believe, is the way we can align him in different spots where he's counted as a down guy and as an off the (ball) guy.
"So I think that's important to say, where's the alignment and how we would deploy him from there? Because certainly they value his rush ability and his speed, but we want to make sure we're not just putting hm into one spot. That's kind of part of the uniqueness of him, [and we'll try to feature that as often as we can."
-Rob Phillips (8/3)
