Packers Star Micah Parsons Offers Challenge to Colin Cowherd

“Micah is a great athlete and a heat-seeking missile. He is great to have in Green Bay when they lead games in the fourth quarter. But when they don’t and the offense dries up, he’s not very good at the run, so Philadelphia at the end of the game can try to run the clock down and just run at Micah.”

Parsons responded by noting how the Packers shut down Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and told Cowherd to “stfu.”

Cowherd responded a day later, questioning Parsons’ all-around game again.

Parsons didn’t respond this time, but issued a challenge on Friday.

“If you think you’re better than me, switch jobs for the day,” Parsons said.

Of course, that’s not going to happen. Cowherd never said he was better than Parsons. He just offered a questionable critique of Parsons’ game and ability to stop the run.

“I ain’t hear no complains yet,” Parsons said of his run defense. “I think I would say it was a transition learning the defense, the learning how to stop the run. I think a lot of people don’t really know how to stop the run.

“Some dudes is just big. Myself, I have to learn technique, I have to learn offensive scheme, I’ve got to learn what I can eliminate, when I can do things head-on, how to get off blocks. Coming from a linebacker, where you can avoid a little bit more to up close and personal, it was a challenge. But I’m thankful for the guys that were patient with me from Dallas to Zim (former Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer) to even D.C. (Packers defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington) – just very intelligent guys who helped me improve.”

Asked about Parsons’ run defense on Thursday, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was sort of taken aback.

“Micah Parsons?” Hafley replied.

“If you watch that tape against the run and Saquon, who I think is the premier back in the league, I think Saquon had 60-something yards rushing. Micah Parsons was in almost all those plays. Micah was setting edges as end, Micah was setting edges as a three-technique. Micah against the run was straining and playing as good of run defense as I’ve seen.”

Hafley then offered his own challenge to Cowherd.

“If anybody wants to talk about Micah Parsons’ run defense, I’d like to sit down and watch the tape with them. Because the effect that he had on that game – one, in the run defense and then, two, we can talk about not getting sacks, but you guys saw the pressures that he put on the quarterback, how fast Jalen Hurts had to throw the ball in key situations.

“Had to break the pocket, run and throw the ball away and stop the clock and give us a chance to get the ball back and win? Micah was outstanding in the game. Just turn the tape on. So, I had not seen the messages you’re talking about, but I’d love to sit down and watch the run tape with whomever wants to go on this game.”

Parsons had three sacks and five quarterback hits against Ariona in Week 7 and added another sack against Pittsburgh in Week 8. He had no hits or sacks during Green Bay’s back-to-back losses, though.

That doesn’t mean Parsons isn’t making an impact, though. That was especially true against Philadelphia. Not only did Parsons have seven pressures, but the Eagles didn’t even try to get a first down on four plays of third-and-10-plus.

So, there are box-score stats and there’s the real-world impact from the player the Packers acquired before Week 1 for two first-round picks and Kenny Clark.

“I wish some people would come play in my shoes,” Parsons said. “Like, if you think you’re better than me, switch jobs for the day. You could take my salary, too. Come switch with me for a day if you think you’re that much better than me and you could do such a greater job. What people don’t realize is everyone gets paid a lot of money for a lot of reasons.”

That means the men who are being asked to block Parsons, the offensive coordinator trying to scheme around Parsons and the quarterback trying to stay out of harm’s way from Parsons.

“You think their offensive coordinator, who’s getting paid a lot of money who wants to keep their job, is going to let this guy from Green Bay come take that from him? That’s what this is all about,” Parsons said.

“Guys get paid a lot of money to scheme, to play. The guys you’re going against are highly paid players for a reason. You don’t think they’re going to slow you down? Like, we’re not invincible. I think there’s the expectation of people just thinking we have to be perfect every week. Bro, I wish I could be perfect every week. I wish I could go out there and have two, three sacks every week. But the odds of that are so slim and not realistic.”

Parsons might be in a sack slump. That could be snapped at any moment. Perhaps even on Sunday against the Giants, who have struggled to protect the passer this season and will be handing the ball to Jameis Winston.

In 2023 with the Cowboys, Parsons had 14 sacks. At one point, Parsons had at least one sack in five consecutive games.

“It’s just a game of runs,” he said. “You can go on a sack pour, where you’ve got five sacks, six, seven sacks in three or four weeks and then you could go seven weeks without one. It’s just a game of runs and once you get on your run, you’ve got to take advantage of it.”