Keeping the Dallas Cowboys’ star pass rusher Micah Parsons off of quarterback Trevor Lawrence will be a top priority for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, but there’s no animosity between the two players.
Lawrence and Parsons both played in U.S. Army All-American Bowl as high school seniors in 2018 and were the first and 12th players taken in the 2021 NFL Draft, respectively.
“I think Trevor is a really cool dude and I think you get a chance to face friends or, you know, people that you have kind of grown with throughout the process and draft and recruiting and stuff like that, it’s always pretty fun. I love him,” Parsons told reporters Thursday. “His jersey is on my wall at home. So, I mean, it’s going to be fun.”
Parsons then said he might need to swap out the jersey with a new one now that it belongs to an upcoming opponent.
At Penn State, Parsons earned consensus All-American honors in 2019 before opting out of the 2020 season due to the pandemic. Lawrence was an All-American in 2020 and led Clemson to a win in the College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2019.
In the NFL, Parsons was the one who got off to the better start with Defensive Rookie of the Year and All-Pro honors last season. This year, he has 12 sacks, three forced fumbles, and is neck and neck with the San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa for the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Lawrence struggled as a rookie, leading the NFL in interceptions during a 3-14 season with the Jaguars. After a rough month of October, Lawrence has been on fire lately with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in his last five games.
The friendship between Lawrence and Parsons could result in a jersey swap that gives the Cowboys pass rusher a new piece for his wall at home. But it won’t mean he takes it easy on the Jaguars quarterback out of the kindness of his heart.