Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons has never missed a game due to injury. The only game he missed was his rookie season of 2021 when he sat out the final game of the regular season with COVID.
Parsons has a high ankle sprain, and while the Cowboys haven’t ruled him out for Sunday’s game against the Steelers yet, the All-Pro acknowledged he might not play.
“Never,” Parsons said, via Patrik Walker of the team website. “Never in my whole life. I’ve never missed a game. I’ve played hurt and through pain so, to me, playing through hurt isn’t really the problem.”
Parsons is considered week to week, but he was wearing a boot and riding a scooter Monday.
“It’s just frustrating, for real,” Parsons said. “You put a lot of energy into getting ready and being there for the team, so being out, this hurts me because I’m letting people down. I’m just letting people down. I figured myself invincible for a while.
“It’s humbling. It’s part of the test that I was talking about. It’s faith. Got to come back strong.”
Parsons said he wants to come back as quickly as possible, but he also doesn’t want it to linger. Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby tried to play through a high ankle sprain and ended up missing Sunday’s game against the Browns after playing 61 snaps in Week 3.
The Cowboys play the Steelers and the Lions before their off week.
“I was trying to shake back,” Parsons said. “I got into the office and [head athletic trainer] Jim [Maurer] was like, ‘Yeah, you’re probably not going to be able to go [against the Steelers]. . . . Probably makes sense to some [to sit out until after the off week], but when you are a real competitor, like I said, you only get 17 chances at this, and missing one of these opportunities to perform at the highest level bothers me. I feel like I want to play on Sunday.
“I want to play. If I can play, I will play. To me, as long as I can run and move how I want to move, I want to play.”
