'Keeps you up at night': What's making Cowboys HC lose sleep ahead of Micah Parsons' return?

Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons returns to AT&T Stadium on Sunday after the Dallas Cowboys traded him before the start of the season. 

In his Wednesday news conference, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer downplayed Parsons' return. However, the coach knows it's a massive storyline and admitted it's one reason he's losing sleep.

Brian Schottenheimer explains how Micah Parsons' return is making him lose sleep

"Knowing Micah keeps you up even more at night because I've seen him do things that I haven't seen yet in Green Bay," the coach said. "It means it's in there, I know he has it, I know he has those moves." 

Pro Football Focus credits Parsons with 15 pressures through three games, tied for the ninth most in the league. Note that he hasn't been playing at maximum capacity.

Parsons missed training camp because of a back issue. Green Bay has gradually increased his workload as he's been recovering. He played a season-high 51 snaps in a 13-10 Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns, via PFF. 

Figure on the Packers using Parsons more against the Cowboys, who have confirmed there's no tribute video for the pass-rusher. He insists he's not bitter about that.

"There's a lot of things I can consider disrespectful throughout the process, but I wouldn't say the tribute is one of them," Parsons said Wednesday, via The Athletic's Matt Schneidman. "I would say, I just think there's hard feelings maybe for them, but for me, I'm happy where I'm at, and we got a really good football team, so I guess I can receive my tribute in a win, I hope." 

He certainly could. The Cowboys will likely be without rookie guard Tyler Booker and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who are battling ankle injuries. This only increases the Packers' chances of winning Sunday's matchup at 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC). As of Wednesday, ESPN Bet lists them as a 6.5-point favorite.

Schottenheimer should be in for more sleepless nights. He knows Sunday could be a long one for him and quarterback Dak Prescott, whom Parsons desperately wants to sack.