Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons won’t be able to play Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a high-ankle sprain. But he can still share his thoughts on the tough challenge his teammates will be in for this weekend. On his weekly The Edge podcast for Bleacher Report, Parsons praised the impressive play of QB Justin Fields and the Steelers’ tough defense.
“I think Justin won the team over,” Parsons said. “Right now, Justin’s 3-1. He almost had a complete comeback against the Indianapolis Colts. We play him this week. He’s been playing at really high level. Justin is really, really good. I think he’s proven himself that he belong[s] in his league. I’m glad that the Steelers and Mike Tomlin have been able to gain his confidence back because the Bears probably stripped him of it.”
During his Tuesday press conference, Mike Tomlin confirmed that the team is preparing for Fields to start even as Wilson makes his first significant progress since aggravating his calf injury in late August. Potentially, Wilson could get in his first full practice after being limited the first four weeks of the year. But Fields has won and played well. If he can beat the Cowboys, it’s hard to see Tomlin even considering making a quarterback change.
Even if healthy, Parsons wouldn’t have had to deal with the Steelers’ defense. But he knows that will be a tough group for Dallas.
“The Steelers got one of the top defenses, obviously,” Parsons said. “T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cameron Hayward, [the] linebacker corps is amazing. They got my young guy Joey Porter [Jr.], that’s going to give, [CeeDee Lamb] a good matchup. Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott. You could go on and on about this defense and guys they have. They’ve been playing great ball.”
As a small note, Highsmith won’t play this week due to a groin injury he sustained in Week 3. But Pittsburgh has enough firepower to bounce back after a disappointing showing against the Indianapolis Colts.
Through four games, the Cowboys have the 11th-ranked scoring offense but haven’t come close to matching their Week 1 mark of 33 points in a comfortable win against the Cleveland Browns. Since, the team has been held to the high-teens to mid-20s, including putting up 20 points in a Week 4 Thursday night win against the New York Giants. The team’s lacked consistent weapons outside star WR CeeDee Lamb and the running game has sputtered, top backs Rico Dowdle and Zeke Elliott under 4 yards per carry.
Pittsburgh will look to have increased success with its own ground game. The Cowboys have one of the league’s worst rush defenses and will be without Parsons and DE DeMarcus Lawrence. Rookie Zach Frazier will have to control big NT Mazi Smith, who played well last week, but the Steelers should find more running room than they have for most of the past two games.
