Cowboys send mixed signals about Micah Parsons' status for Week 5
On Friday, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy revealed both Micah Parsons' and DeMarcus Lawrence's injuries were worse than they had originally anticipated. Since then, we've learned Lawrence is likely headed to Injured Reserve as he could miss four to eight weeks due to a foot injury while Parsons hasn't been ruled out for Week 5 […]
On Friday, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy revealed both Micah Parsons' and DeMarcus Lawrence's injuries were worse than they had originally anticipated.
Since then, we've learned Lawrence is likely headed to Injured Reserve as he could miss four to eight weeks due to a foot injury while Parsons hasn't been ruled out for Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact, he told reporters so on Monday, too.
Despite the Cowboys not ruling Parsons out just yet, the signals have been mixed on their end, including from Parsons because… well, he said that from a scooter while wearing a boot, according to ESPN's Todd Archer.
Additionally, Parsons isn't ruling himself out just yet but he did tell reporters he felt like he was "letting people down" due to the injury.
I'm no doctor but clearly, the Cowboys keeping the door open for Parsons to go against the Steelers comes off as wildly optimistic given the player's own words and the fact that he was on a boot.
Considering all this plus the fact that high-angle sprains can be a lingering issue if not healed properly, I'd be very surprised if No. 11 takes the field in Pittsburgh on "Sunday Night Football." With a bye week peeking its head after the Steelers and the Detroit Lions, it'd make sense to play it cool and give Parsons as much time as possible.
The problem? The Cowboys are extremely thin at defensive end at this point and have little to no legit options to deal with it. Perhaps in a desperate move, the team could force Parsons to play. But since he's likely the next man they'll sign to a humongous deal, I'd consider that a major surprise if it comes to it.
The first injury report of the week will come out on Wednesday but if the Cowboys' superstar has a shot at suiting up, we'll likely learn about it until the weekend.
