OXNARD, Calif. — As the Dallas Cowboys’ first-team offense faced its first-team defense in 11-on-11 drills Monday, Micah Parsons watched from the sideline.
The two-time All-Pro edge rusher wore his No. 11 navy jersey atop a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, and his basketball shoes instead of cleats were yet another sign he would not be practicing.
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But Parsons wasn’t simply present to hold in, rather than hold out, to avoid absence fines amid lagging negotiations on a contract extension.
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He was busy with conversation throughout the two-hour session, even as he abstained from contact and full participation.
“The meetings have been really good,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “What you see from him is the coaching piece of it and all that that he’s doing. Diving into the other guys and I don’t think you’ll see much different.
“But again: very engaged, asks good questions, and I don’t think that that’s going to change.”
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Two weeks have elapsed since the Cowboys reported to training camp in California, a two-week period in which Parsons has not fully participated in any practice.
On Monday, Parsons spoke at length with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus to the side of defensive line drills during periods of individual work. He then spent most of team drills with Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay, Parsons and McClay watching at ground level from the sideline while team owner and general manager Jerry Jones watched from an adjacent temporary tower.
Parsons also spent time with cornerback Trevon Diggs during the Cowboys’ late-practice 7-on-7 period.
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Parsons wore his Cowboys jersey Monday after not doing so Saturday (the players were off Sunday).
It was unclear whether Schottenheimer directly asked Parsons to return to wearing his jersey, but it was not unclear whether Schottenheimer preferred that.
“Not a big deal,” Schottenheimer said. “I mean, we want all of our guys to be the same. And again, there’s usually a reason if a guy’s not in that. But again, for the most part we’re a team. We’re going to always act like a team and usually you’ll see them all in gear.”
Parsons’ reason for not wearing the jersey Saturday seemed either connected to, or fortuitously timed near, his Friday request for a trade.
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Parsons enters the fifth-year option of his rookie deal with the team that selected him 12th overall in 2021. He’s dominated in his first four campaigns, racing to 52.5 sacks, 256 tackles, 112 quarterback hits and nine forced fumbles in 63 games.
The Cowboys insist they want to pay him and plan to keep him.
But negotiations dovetailed when Parsons met directly with Jones in March, a meeting that Jones considered a formal negotiation — a premise that left Parsons feeling misled.
Parsons asked the Cowboys to continue and finalize negotiations with his agent, David Mulugheta. Jones became frustrated that Parsons wasn’t simply honoring the deal the team owner believed they had, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiation factors told Yahoo Sports.
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As of Friday, the Cowboys had yet to send Mulugheta a single contract offer.
“Still not a call[,] email or text to my agent about starting a negotiation,” Parsons wrote in a post on Twitter. “Up to today the team has not had a single conversation with my agent about a contract.”
That remained true as of Monday evening, a person with knowledge of negotiations confirmed to Yahoo Sports.
The Cowboys seem to be taking a good cop-bad cop approach, with Jones digging his heels in with, at times, hard-ball negotiation tactics while the coaching staff and even front-office members like McClay continue to engage Parsons.
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The coaching staff has been hesitant to comment or speculate on where negotiations will go, downplaying what the loss of Parsons means to offensive linemen unable to get the caliber of reps an All-Pro could provide.
But Schottenheimer said defensive game plans will not change amid Parsons’ current stance.
The coaching staff expects Parsons to be available for the Sept. 4 season opener at the Philadelphia Eagles and beyond.
“We’re still planning on moving Micah around and putting him in all the spots that we see him and using our fronts the way we want to see it,” Schottenheimer said. “We go about our business every day. We live in the moment. We focus in the moment. And again, like I said, I talked to you guys the other day, not going to get a lot into it.
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“But I expect Micah to be here.”
