Parsons leaves Dallas 'disappointed' in defense, tie

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Micah Parsons got one thing he wanted in his return to AT&T Stadium: He sacked his former quarterback, Dak Prescott. The rest of it, however, left him unfulfilled after his new team, the Green Bay Packers played his old team, the Dallas Cowboys, to a 40-40 tie on Sunday night.

While some on both sides weren't sure how to feel about a tie in which the two teams kicked field goals in overtime -- the Packers with just a second to spare at the end of the extra session after they nearly mismanaged their way out of time -- Parsons' feelings were clear.

"I'm not even going to lie, I'm pissed off," Parsons said. "I'm very disappointed, just overall how we performed."

He wasn't talking about the Packers' offense. He said he essentially apologized to quarterback Jordan Love, who threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns.

"I even told Jordan to the side, you know, 'Thank you for having our back today,'" Parsons said. "You know, that's why it's so pivotal to, you know you play complementary football. Because today, Jordan played like the player he was, and we let him down. We didn't live up to the level of expectation on defense."

Facing his old team almost exactly a month after he was traded to the Packers following an offseason-long contract dispute with Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, Parsons finished with four pressures -- two of which came in overtime, when he sacked Prescott who was trying to scramble on second-and-goal at the Packers' 4-yard line. The sack might have saved a touchdown because after Prescott threw incomplete on third down, the Cowboys kicked their chip-shot 22-yard field goal to strike first in overtime.

In a game that featured seven lead changes -- the most in a tie in NFL history, according to ESPN Research -- Prescott's 319 yards and three touchdowns just about matched Love's numbers. The Packers pressured Prescott on 14 of his 41 dropbacks (34%), yet it barely fazed him. He completed 10 of 13 passes for 121 yards and six first downs when pressured.

"You look how precise No. 4 looked tonight, just getting through his throws, getting to his receivers, the timing," Parsons said. "I think he played a better game than we played defense. So, you know, shout out to Dak, and I told him, I said, 'You go watch that film. You lucky if you wasn't on your s---, it would've been a long day, it would've been a real long day for you,' but he played a hell of a game, and I give him kudos for that."

Beyond the postgame embraces and conversations with several of his former teammates, including Prescott and trading jerseys with Trevon Diggs, Parsons said there were no other emotions in his return to his NFL home for the first four years of his career.

"You know, honestly, I think all in all, the emotions for me being in Dallas went away the moment they traded me," Parsons said.

Parsons never mentioned Jones by name, but as he has said on numerous occasions since the trade, he noted he has not talked to Jones in months.

"He couldn't tell me as a man [about the trade]," Parsons said. "So to me that that emotion side was gone. It was more about a respect factor at this point."

Before the game, there was no interaction between Parsons and Jones. Parsons did not come out on the field until pregame warmups.

"It's just not appropriate," Jones said. "What are we supposed to do when we're getting ready to play each other, all that's at stake for him and all that's at stake for our team, the Cowboys? That's not appropriate to be visiting as you getting ready to play."

And in the game there was no trash talk from Parsons, either.

"Zero," Prescott said. "Not at all. Not at all. Til afterwards and it was great, good talks afterwards, staying healthy, great job, it was fun competing against you. But no talks happened at all during the game."

Not even after Parsons sacked Prescott in overtime.

"I didn't know that was Micah quite on my back," Prescott said.

The Cowboys did their best to neutralize Parsons.

"It goes back to the plan," Prescott said. "That it'll be all hands on deck, whether it be the tight ends, whether it be the running backs. Honestly, there were 1-on-1s and those tackles did their job. Stepped up and did what they needed to do, kept him off, and kept him away from me."

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer did not get into the plan, although tight end Jake Ferguson chipped Parsons a number of times before going out on a route, and the team used max protections to shore up the front at times.