247Sports Embed Resource
While the Dallas Cowboys were made fun of after their 27-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, edge rusher Micah Parsons received criticism. Following the loss on primetime, Parsons skipped out on the usual post-game activities. No midfield congratulatory handshakes, no jersey swaps, not even a brief chat. Parsons headed straight towards the locker room.
During post-game interviews, Parsons opened up about his emotional exit. The combination of the muffed punt block-return (which led to the Bengals' game-winning score) and the early exit of second-year linebacker, DeMarvion Overshown, weighed heavily on him.
"This one hurt me more than any loss this year, probably even worse than a playoff loss to be honest, because of where we were going, how we were playing, playing good football," Parsons told reports after "MNF."
On his latest episode of his podcast, Parsons addressed the scrutiny he faced and went into further details about his early departure from the field.
Micah Parsons explains his postgame emotions after loss vs. Bengals:
'Damned if I do, damned if I don't... If I went over there and was all laughing with the competition after we lost like that, a lot of people would be mad.'
(via The Edge with Micah Parsons) pic.twitter.com/6E3Fa0Tvmy
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 10, 2024
Parsons explained that his emotions and actions are based on his competitiveness.
"Not only am I the most complete competitor, I don't think there's anyone else in the world except for maybe the top three greatest players of all time…[Michael Jordan]...R.I.P Kobe Bryant…I think I'm in their category of competitiveness," Parsons said. "It's heartbreaking for me because I promised y'all, Cowboys Nation, we would make a run."
During the Cowboys' two-game win streak, Parsons was very vocal that their season was not over. With the defense slowly getting back to full strength, Parsons' message was "Why not us?" on social media.
(Photo: Cooper Neill, Getty)
After this "MNF" loss, the Cowboys are now 1-6 at home which frustrated the defensive star.
"I wanted to win real bad for the ownership and fans…The fact that we lost and we could've won that game. That killed me man, like I want to win so bad. All I know how to do is find ways to win and impact the game," Parsons said.
As for not joining his team at midfield after the game, Parsons viewed that as a lose-lose and that no one took the implications of the loss that serious.
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't...If I went over there and was all laughing with the competition after we lost like that, a lot of people would be mad. I walk off the field because the games over and people are mad," Parsons explained. "You can't make everyone happy but I will just say in that specific moment it was deeper than that…We needed that win."