Cowboys star Micah Parsons' unorthodox season preparation included pickleball, meditation

Dallas Cowboys star pass-rusher Micah Parsons feels ready for the 2023 NFL season thanks in part to a pair of off-the-field activities.

Parsons recently told Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post how he embraced meditation and the recreational sport of pickleball to improve after he earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors for the 2021 season and First-Team All-Pro nods across each of his first two NFL campaigns. 

"When you come in [to the season] good already, you just gotta find a little one percent to get better," Parsons explained. "I’ve been practicing my mentality and doing different sports like boxing and pickleball." 

According to ESPN stats, Parsons finished last regular season seventh among all players with 13.5 sacks. Earlier this summer, the 24-year-old listed at 245 pounds noted he wanted to add positive weight and bulk up to around 255 pounds by the regular-season opener at the division-rival New York Giants on Sept. 10. 

"I’ve been doing different things to attack different areas and learn more, eating the right way to frame the body — and just trying to make myself feel as best as possible for this year," Parsons continued. "It’s been a lot of mental and physical preparation. I think this might be my best offseason in terms of learning, growing and trying to be the player that I wanna be."

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones recently put the rest of the NFC East on notice when he suggested Dallas has the goods to get past the Philadelphia Eagles and win the division title. As of Thursday afternoon, OddsChecker had the Cowboys second among betting favorites at +190 odds to claim the division crown. The Eagles topped the list at -110 odds, followed by the Giants at +850. 

Parsons offered no major prediction and instead revealed he's "always constantly working and trying to find ways to get better." 

That's a scary thought for opposing offenses considering Pro-Football-Reference shows he's finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting across each of the past two seasons.