Micah Parsons believes the Cowboys defense shouldn’t worry about Lamar Jackson until he fixes ‘effort and technique’ issues

FRISCO, Texas — Facing the Baltimore Ravens and their star-studded offensive backfield like two-time NFL MVPs Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry can make any defense anxious.

Dallas Cowboys three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons also called Jackson “probably the most successful player ever.” The best dual-threat quarterback in the league And in history, today” on Raising Cane’s on Tuesday. As of 2023, the second of Jackson’s two NFL MVP seasons, he has passed for 26 touchdowns and only eight interceptions, which equates to the fourth-best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the NFL at that point. He has also produced at least 750 rushing yards in each of his first five NFL seasons from 2019-2023, the most seasons produced by an NFL quarterback in NFL history.

However, Parsons once again focused on the Cowboys, raving about his defensive teammates at his regular media availability after practice on Wednesday and lighting a fire inside them about their effort and technique. Five-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara shredded them for 115 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, averaging 5.8 yards per carry, in New Orleans’ 44-19 Week 2 win over the Cowboys on Sunday. Kamara totaled 180 yards from scrimmage with four touchdowns.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys’ top four defensive tackles — Osa Odigijua (45.6 PFF defensive grade, 91st out of 115 NFL DTs), Mazi Smith (28.9 PFF defensive grade, 114th out of 115 NFL DTs), Linval Joseph (31.7 PFF defensive grade, 111th out of 115 NFL DTs) and Jordan Phillips (29.6 PFF defensive grade, 113th out of 115 NFL DTs) — have ranked among the NFL’s worst at their position as a starting running back in 2024. Right now, Parsons doesn’t think it’s fair to think about Jackson’s unique abilities until Dallas cleans up its mess.

“I think it was a result of effort and technique. … At one point, all 11 players were playing together. [on the field] “We have to have the same mindset, and that’s just toughness,” Parsons said Wednesday. “You talk about what you want to be and all these other things. But you have to go out there and be that. It can’t just be one guy. It can’t be two guys. It’s all 11 guys. It takes everybody. I affect the linebackers, the linebackers affect the DBs. We’re not all together. One group messes up, then the other group messes up. It’s a coordinated chain. So at the end of the day, it’s all about toughness and having a mindset like I’m going to dominate the guy in front of me. All 11 didn’t have that last week.”

He pointed out how Saints quarterback Derek Carr only needed to drop back to pass five times on Sunday, in the traditional sense, with no play-action. That was the fewest dropbacks (no play-action) in a Week 2 game last week, as the next quarterback above Carr, Cardinals Pro Bowler Kyler Murray, had 13 dropbacks in a 41-10 win against the Los Angeles Rams. That’s the stat Parsons focused on when asked about stopping Jackson when he drops back to pass, perhaps as a quarterback spy. Second-year linebacker DeMarvion Overshown.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Parsons said as he and Overshown spied Jackson in the pocket. “As long as we stay in our rush lanes, we do what we need to do, but the most important thing is to convince him to pass the ball. We didn’t do a good job of that. So until we show that we can get the right opportunity, it’s going to be a long road.” [to pass rush]I mean, we had three dropbacks last game? That’s disgraceful. This isn’t even a football game. It’s like we’re playing pony football again. So until we get the fundamentals right, I’m not even worried about Lamar at this point.”

Veteran Cowboys linebacker Eric Kendricks said Wednesday that the overall defense “has to be stronger.” Parsons agreed.

“Toughness. Go ahead. There’s no other option,” Parsons said when asked about defending the combination of Jackson and Henry. “Derrick Henry is going to come down whether you like it or not. So it’s not a matter of whether you’re going to stop him or not. It’s just whether you’re going to do it or not. I know I’m ready to compete.”

Micah’s Movement

One of new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s main goals this offseason was to create more one-on-one matchups for Parsons, the 2023 NFL leader in quarterback pressures (103) and quarterback pressure rate (21.8%), and keep him away from double teams and other methods that offenses use to try to take him out of the game. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Parsons was double-teamed on 35% of his pass rush plays in 2023, the most in the league among edge players.

In 2024, Parsons is off to another great start with 14 quarterback pressures, the third most in the NFL and only three behind league leader Aidan Hutchinson (17). The problem is that only three of those pressures came against the Saints on Sunday, most of which had to do with New Orleans controlling the game on the ground. When he threw the football, Parsons felt like he was the best running back in the NFL. He used the “Labyrinth” This included chipping and maximum protection to keep him off balance. This was not what Zimmer expected.

“Maybe I tried to use him a little bit more in a lot of different things,” Zimmer said Monday. “Looking back, it’s 20-20. … Maybe it affected some of the other players and asked them to do too many things this week. So I say I need to do a better job of that. When he played the run, he played very well. He played six technique, he played four technique, he played nine technique. Obviously, there are some plays he would like to take back, but I thought he played very well. Probably as good as any player.”

Micah Parsons’ career defensive snap alignment

*Data as per Pro Football Focus

Despite primarily lining up along the defensive line, Parsons’ alignment across the defensive front has varied, according to PFF.

Micah Parsons defensive line alignment, 2024 season

Per PFF

• 3 snaps to the left defensive end (LDE, defender lined up or shaded over the right tackle in a three-point stance)
• 14 snaps at outside left defensive end (LEO, defender completely outside the right tackle and lined up in three-point stance)
• 37 snaps at left outside linebacker (LOLB, defender 1.5 yards or less from the line of scrimmage, positioned on the inside shade or wider than the right tackle and in a two-point stance)
• 1 snap to the right defensive end (RDE, defender lined up or shaded over the left tackle in a three-point stance)
• 27 snaps at outside right defensive end (REO, defender completely outside the left tackle and lined up in a three-point stance)
• 17 snaps at right outside linebacker (ROLB, defender 1.5 yards or less from the line of scrimmage, positioned on the inside shade or wider than the left tackle and in a two-point stance)

* 57 of 63 defensive snaps along the defensive line in Week 1

** 42 of 43 defensive snaps along the defensive line in Week 2

The three-time All-Pro said when he moves around, it’s up to his teammates to take responsibility because his movement isn’t free-lancing for him. Everyone on the Dallas defense knows what’s coming next.

“At the end of the day, I think that should encourage guys, right? The expectations are that I’m the guy who’s gonna get the slide, I’m the guy who’s gonna get most of the chips and the double teams. You know, harassment. We expect guys to win. I don’t think it’s that hard for guys to move around? Because it’s not something that we’re not practicing or we’re not doing. It’s all practice behavior. So if you limit me it would be shocking to me because I think [it] That would be the worst thing.”

The worst thing for the Cowboys would be for their defense to go two weeks in a row with a loss to the Ravens. Sunday will tell if they can revive their run defense.