OXNARD, Calif. — There are at least two things that haven’t changed at Dallas Cowboys training camp through two weeks. Micah Parsons is the best player on the field, and he’s been the most entertaining quote.
The NFL Defensive Player of the Year favorite spoke with reporters after practice Saturday, so it was perfect timing for a Pro Football Hall of Fame question. Former Cowboys DeMarcus Ware and Chuck Howley were part of this year’s HOF class, which was inducted Saturday.
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“I don’t think I just want to make the Hall of Fame, I want to be known as one of the greatest Hall of Famers,” Parsons said. “There’s categories to everything. There’s good, there’s great, and there’s perfect.
“I don’t want to just be mentioned in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, that’s a great accolade, but I want to be one of the greatest in the Hall of Fame.”
Cowboys coaches have talked to Micah Parsons about being careful around the QB in practice. He ran into Dak Prescott’s legs last week. “I get warnings every day. But you know, I’ve always been wanting to push towards that line.” pic.twitter.com/EZCr0z84O4
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 5, 2023
Parsons obviously has a ways to go to get into the Hall of Fame, but there’s no questioning his talent. It’s been extremely noticeable throughout the team’s first seven practices. He has been so dominant that it’s likely going to be difficult for him to patiently wait for the start of the regular season on Sept. 10.
“Yeah, I’m ready to go right now,” Parsons said. “I think my training coming in here, I was already getting ready. So a lot of guys, they might wait until camp, go through camp to kind of go through the motions and then (ramp) up and get ready. But my mindset this year was like, I want to be so far ahead of everybody that by the time camp comes, I’m already going to be literally in midseason form, getting ready to dominate.”
Micah Parsons: “Yeah, I was just being stupid and just jammed my joint. I’m pretty fine though, nothing too serious right there.” https://t.co/GD87P6Iy5M
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 6, 2023
The two-time first-team All-Pro has consistently been getting in the backfield regardless of who lines up in front of him. Parsons has been sacking the quarterback or stopping running backs behind the line of scrimmage when facing double teams or going straight up against starting offensive tackles Tyron Smith or Terence Steele.
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Parsons has been having so much success against Smith, an eight-time Pro Bowler, that he felt he needed to remind reporters that Smith is still playing at a high level.
“I just want people to know Tyron is really still great,” he said. “Tyron is intimidating, bro. When I was going against Tyron my rookie year, that was one of the first left tackles that I ever went up against. I was like, ‘Man, this guy is hard to beat.’ I didn’t understand what I was doing, how I wanted to set him up and I learned from him. Tyron’s edge now is I got him figured out. Everyone is not going to figure (him) out. I practiced against the guy for three years now. I know how Tyron wants to get me. I know exactly how he wants to touch me. I know how he’s going to set me up. Not everyone can do that. I don’t want people to feel like that’s him. That’s just also me getting better. I’m just learning how to pass rush now, not that Tyron is not great.
“Now, I know what I’m doing. I think that’s going to be a real big difference. Even last year, I would start at linebacker and then they kind of bumped me back down again, and I’m trying to learn a position midway through the year. I think this is the first year where I know my keys, I know my reads. I fully know every position on the field.”
Entering his third season, Parsons feels much more confident in his rush plan, something he worked on this offseason with former Pro Bowl offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. One of the reasons Whitworth said he was intrigued to spend time with Parsons is because of the way he rushes off feel. Whitworth went about his job as an offensive lineman in a similar way.
“I got A, B, C,” Parsons said. “It’s all feel. I’m just going off what the guy gives me. I know if a guy is over the top of me, I can go inside. If he’s patient, he’s back on his heels because he’s scared of my speed. It’s just all feel. You got to feel the game, you got to understand the game and how they want to slow you down.
“My toolbox is wide open.”
Micah Parsons tackle for loss pic.twitter.com/zNcZW95t2a
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 5, 2023
Here are some other recent notes from Cowboys training camp.
Kicking competition. Things haven’t been great in this area, and they were probably at their worst Saturday. Brandon Aubrey and Tristan Vizcaino combined to make only 1 of 6 field goals during a portion of practice that heard a lot of boos from the fans in attendance. The Cowboys will likely get a better feel for what they have at the position after both get work in Saturday’s preseason opener. But it seems like there is still a decent chance that the Cowboys’ kicker for this season isn’t currently on the roster. (The first video is of Aubrey. The second is of Vizcaino.)
Cowboys kicking competition pic.twitter.com/0EtzWCHGpv
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 5, 2023
Bad day for the Cowboys kickers. Fans are booing pic.twitter.com/ncACHwfDQk
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 5, 2023
Dak in the preseason? It doesn’t sound like Dak Prescott will be playing in any of Dallas’ three preseason games. “We’ve talked about it, but I haven’t made a decision,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “I’m leaning towards not. If I had to bet, I’d bet on no. But I don’t bet.”
Luke Schoonmaker update. The rookie tight end has not practiced because of the plantar fasciitis he’s been dealing with all offseason. “He had a little bit of a setback (Friday),” McCarthy said. “Nothing major, but a minor setback. Hopefully Monday (he’ll be able to practice).”
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Malik Hooker’s new contract. Hooker signed a three-year, $24 million extension over the weekend. “He’s extremely respected by his teammates,” McCarthy said. “He’s an incredible football player. … You see the range he has, the ball skills. He’s an exceptional athlete that does a great job commanding the back end (of the defense) for us.” … Hooker said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones often tells him that he was going to draft him in 2017. Hooker went 15th overall to the Indianapolis Colts. The Cowboys drafted Taco Charlton with the 28th overall pick that year. “These are my guys,” Hooker said. “We’re real close outside of this football stuff. I knew I didn’t want to go nowhere else. This is where I’ve been calling home the last three years. It has felt like home. I’m comfortable here. It just feels like a family.”
More praise for Stephon Gilmore. The veteran CB has been one of Dallas’ most noticeable standouts through the first two weeks of camp. He has also been one of the most praised players when talking to his coaches and teammates. “He’s the smartest defensive back that I’ve ever lined up against,” Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb said. “He knows certain routes off of my alignment, and it sucks. It’s really chess with him. You’re not just running a route, and that’s making me better. … On the walk-through reps, he’ll tell me what he’s thinking, just off my alignment. … Just picking his brain. It’s tough going against him, but I like it.”
Cowboys DB coach Al Harris on Gilmore: “His preparation, he’s on it every single day. He eats right, studies, takes notes. And the thing about it is usually when you get guys that have the accolades that he has and the amount of years that he’s played, you kind of as a coach, you don’t know if you can disrupt that. And he’s still willing to learn. Just little things that you tweak him on, you only got to tell him once. He’s been great. To hear him talk to the younger guys, I think it’s awesome. I think that was a really, really good addition for the team and the entire defense.”
(Photo of Micah Parsons: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
The Football 100, the definitive ranking of theNFL’s best 100 players of all time, goes on sale this fall. Pre-order ithere.
Jon Machota is a staff writer covering the Dallas Cowboys for The Athletic. He previously covered the Cowboys for The Dallas Morning News. He's a Detroit native and graduate of Wayne State University. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmachota
