With Return to Cowboys on Sunday Night, Here’s What ‘Fuels’ Micah Parsons

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Sunday, exactly one month after he was acquired by the Green Bay Packers in a blockbuster trade, Micah Parsons will play against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys.

On Wednesday, he downplayed his return to North Texas for the Sunday night showdown.

“I feel like it’s just going to be another game for me,” he said.

Really? There won’t be any extra juice in playing the team for which he starred for four seasons but traded him following a contract dispute?

“For me, I just feel like my fuel’s always been trying to be the best player,” he said. “When you’ve got a good team and you’ve got to beat them, you’ve got to show up in the primetime games. You’ve got to be your best player for yourself, for your team and everyone there.”

If that sounds like nonsense – and maybe it is – Parsons has good reason to treat it as just another game. After all, the hype that will surround this primetime matchup won’t matter once the pads are on and the ball is kicked. Then it really is just another game. No matter if he needs to beat former teammates to sack his former quarterback.

Parsons will want to destroy the Cowboys, just like he wanted to destroy the Lions, Commanders and Browns to start the season.

“Just knowing me, once the game starts, who’s going to be worried about any trade?” he said. “It’s just me against them – the five men in front of me. And then we’ve got one common goal, and that’s to win the football game.

“How we win the football game is winning the line of scrimmage and affecting Dak (Prescott) and how good he’s been playing this year. I think the fans, the media’s going to get off on the hype and all that, but once the game (starts), ain’t no one talking about the trade. We’re talking about winning the football game.”

It will be a big game for both teams. The Packers are 2-1 and licking their wounds after losing to the winless Browns last week. The Cowboys are 1-2, their defense crumbling without the constant pressure Parsons provided.

The Cowboys no doubt are missing the production. Officially, he has 1.5 sacks and six quarterback hits, which puts him on a pace for 8.5 sacks and 34 quarterback hits. The sack total would be the lowest of his career – he had a career-low 12 last year – but the hit count would be his highest.

Those are just the box-score numbers, though. According to Pro Football Focus, Parsons has 15 pressures. All of Dallas’ defensive ends combined have 19. Among edge rushers, he’s third in PFF’s pass-rush win rate.

The Cowboys have three sacks and 12 quarterback hits as a team. The Packers have 10 sacks and 31 quarterback hits.

And then there’s this:

Micah Parsons has the highest pressure percentage (21.8) among edge rushers this season despite being double teamed at the highest rate (18.4 pct) at the position (per @NextGenStats).

*Minimum 75 pass rush snaps
— Tony Holzman-Escareno (@FrontOfficeNFL) September 24, 2025

So, yes, quarterback Jordan Love is much happier that Parsons is on his side rather than with the Cowboys, as was the case for the 2023 playoffs.

“Obviously, preparing for a guy like Micah Parsons is not very fun,” Love said. “Definitely happy that Micah is over here.”

It will be a full house at AT&T Stadium on Sunday night. While with the Cowboys, Parsons rented a suite for the season. There are no refunds, so it’s “going to be packed” for his return to the stadium at which he had 27.5 sacks in 33 games.

“Trust me, I’ve got a big suite,” he said.

The weekly conversation with Parsons in the hallway outside the locker room lasted for about 10 minutes. It touched on Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and the offensive linemen he helped mentor.

After a few minutes, the conversation came back to facing his former team. Maybe it’s just another game, but wouldn’t he like to deliver the knockout blow against his former team?

“Bro, I look for those games every week,” Parsons said. “I was hoping I’d get to the quarterback last week. It’s great when you do and it sucks when you don’t, so I won’t bank on me trying to make that play. I mean, I try every play to make that type of play.

“That’s why they brought me here. That’s why my value is so high, because I make those type of plays, but I just got to do that. I just got to be me. I got to know when my opportunity’s going to come and we got to play three phases of football for that to happen. People don’t realize how hard it is to get sacks in the NFL. We all don’t get freebies, at least I’m out of that world. So, I got to work for them.”

Parsons said he’s remained in contact with many of his former teammates, including regular conversations with cornerback Trevon Diggs and receiver CeeDee Lamb, but not with owner Jerry Jones. The Cowboys have said they will not play a video tribute for Parsons.

Is that disrespectful?

“There’s a lot of things I can consider disrespectful throughout this process, but I wouldn’t say the tribute is one of them,” he said.

“I would say, I just think there’s hard feelings maybe there for them, but for me, I’m happy where I’m at and we got a really good football team, so I guess I can (receive) my tribute in a win, I hope.”

More Green Bay Packers News