Mike Tomlin ‘painting barn red’ with Cowboys DE Micah Parsons

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is preparing his team to potentially face Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons in Week 5.

As the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line goes, so does the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive line. Dallas will likely be without edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) and Micah Parsons (ankle) on Sunday night.

Parsons has not missed a game due to injury at any level of football, only one game in 2021 because of COVID.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, Parsons was donning a protective boot and using a scooter to get around the facility on Monday after being injured late in Thursday’s win against the New York Giants. An MRI confirmed the high ankle sprain.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is preparing to play without both Lawrence and Parsons, but Mike Tomlin has a different perspective:

I use the phrase all the time: If you have red paint, you paint your bar red. With those dynamic edge people like Lawrence and maybe even Parsons out, we better get ready for a lot of schematic pressure from him, but we better also prepare for the likes of Parsons. A guy like is not normal in any circumstances, so we better be prepared if he shows up in-stadium to work and minimize him and how they move him around and his unique talents, particularly in one-dimensional passing moments.

If Parsons has his way, you better believe he’ll take the field at Acrisure on Sunday night.

“When you’re a real competitor, you only get 17 chances at this,” Parsons said. “And missing one of these opportunities to perform at the highest level bothers me. I feel like I want to play on Sunday. If I can play, I will play, you know. To me, as long as I can run and move how I move, I want to play.”

The chances of Parsons suiting up are slim to none. If by some miracle he does, he’ll be extremely limited.

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