A week ago Dallas Cowboys All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons took the podium for his session with media beyond ecstatic about the possibilities of the defense under new coordinator Mike Zimmer.
That was after the defense dominated in 33-17 victory against the Cleveland Browns in the season opener and before the Cowboys were humbled, embarrassed and summarily undressed in a 44-19 loss to the New Orleans Saints last Sunday.
It was a still angry and pissed off Parsons who met with the media on Wednesday in advance of Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Cowboys allowed the Saints to score on their first six drives and rack up 190 yards rushing with little resistance.
Parsons says the Cowboys have to prove it against the Ravens.
There were no smiles and no fun and games in his demeanor.
“I think the mentality is to bounce back, stop this run and show people that you can stop the run,” Parsons said. “I think it’s definitely a prove-it again when you have a game like this back-to-back.”
“We’ve got to come back from that mind-boggling loss we had at home. It’s going to be a great battle.”
After the Saints game, Parsons blamed his fellow teammates for their poor effort on defense.
“I think it was effort and technique,” Parsons said. “I think some of that stuff that was on film. I you all got all 22, tell me what y’all saw. It’s not much for me to hit on at this point because we’ve got Baltimore. You can go watch the all 22 and you saw the same thing I saw.”
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys got beat to the punch and didn’t finish on defense against the Saints. Parsons didn’t disagree and said the Cowboys have to show some pride.
“At some point, all 11 got to have the same mindset, and that’s just toughness,• Parsons said. “You talk about who you want to be and all this other stuff. But you’ve got go out there and be it. And it can’t just be one guy. It can’t be two guys. It’s all 11 guys. It takes everyone. I affect the linebackers, the linebackers affect the DBs. We aren’t all synchronized. One group’s getting F’d up, then another group’s going to get F’d up. It’s a synchronized chain. So at the end of the day, it’s all about toughness and having the mentality like I’m going to dominate the man in front of me. Not all 11 had that last week.”
Zimmer took personal ownership for the poor performance of his unit and vowed to fix it.
Parsons said it was on the players not Zimmer.
“Zim said he was going to do that, but I still stand by him and say it was on us,” Parsons said. “I take accountability. It’s on me if I didn’t get, if my teammates felt like they weren’t prepared for the game. Because at the end of the day, we come in, Zim tells us what we’re going to do. Zim says, ‘is everyone OK with it.’ And if we all say we’re OK, then Zim’s going to go with it because we’re all on the same page. Coach is not just going to throw stuff out there. That’s on us for not executing. But I think overall, that was just down-nosed football. There ain’t no scheme or no … that was going to construct what happened to us on Sunday.”
Parsons recognizes that the Cowboys have another great challenge to their run defense against the Ravens, led by dynamic quarterback Lamar Jackson and bulldozing two-time NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry.
The defense is 30th in overall rushing efficiency while allowing the 4th most yards after contact.
He said they will have to show a backbone on Sunday.
“Like I just said, toughness,” Parsons said. “Step up. Ain’t no other choice. Derrick Henry’s going to come downhill, like it or not. So it’s not like a matter of are you going to stop it. It’s just, are you going to do it or not. I know I’m ready for the matchup. I know some other guys on the matchup. It’s just always going to come down Sunday, if you’re going to live up to that or not.”
