Cowboys’ Parsons airs frustration with officiating

Todd Archer, ESPN Staff WriterDec 27, 2023, 05:34 PM ET
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FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons has not drawn a holding penalty since Week 6 against the Los Angeles Chargers. His patience has run thin.

“It’s been long, you know? And I can say I’ve been to the quarterback quite a lot in that time, so it’s definitely frustrating sometimes,” Parsons said. “But at the end of the day, I kind of understand it comes with the territory.”

Parsons was public with his frustration on his podcast two weeks ago. On social media earlier this week, he posted a picture of him being held in last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, which was not called. Parsons was penalized for roughing the passer for a hit on Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that led to Miami’s only touchdown of the game.

“I think the refs understand I’m a good player,” Parsons said, “but they don’t understand the actual plays I can make with my speed and what I can control.”

Parsons has 13 sacks on the season and joined Hall of Famer Reggie White as the only players to open a career with at least 13 sacks in each of their first three seasons. But Parsons believes he is officiated differently than other players.

“To be honest, in the most humblest way ever, I don’t think there’s another rusher like me in the league,” Parsons said. “I don’t think there’s a rusher that runs as quick as I do. There’s not a rusher that does the things that I do. I mean, that’s on tape and I’m pretty sure other rushers can tell you that or whoever. So I think they put me on the same pedestal as other rushers, and we’re just all not the same. You can’t compare me to a lot of other rushers at all. And how they scheme me versus how they scheme other rushers, it’s just not even the same. I don’t think they take that into [account] at all and I don’t think they realize I’m 4.3 coming off the edge versus some dudes might be 4.4 or 4.5, whatever.”

Only three teams have drawn fewer offensive holding penalties than the Cowboys’ 13. The Las Vegas Raiders, with star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby, have drawn the most holding calls at 26. The only other holding penalty drawn by Parsons came in the Cowboys’ Week 2 win against the New York Jets.

Parsons has been outspoken about the lack of calls. He hopes the league looks into the possibility of using instant replay to get more calls for pass-rushers. He said he has spoken to officials before and during games to look for penalties but to no avail.

“I just keep it rolling, bro. It kinda is what it is,” Parsons said. “I’m not a flop guy. I’m not a guy that’s going to fake because I believe I can still make that play. A lot of plays get made above the [2.3-second range], so at the end of the day, I just got to keep playing through things. It’s adversity. It’s challenges. But I’m just going to keep going forward.”