Eagles coach Nick Sirianni paid perhaps the biggest compliment to an opposing player when he was asked about how much attention his team will devote to Cowboys linebacker/pass rusher/game changer Micah Parsons.
Sirianni likened Parsons to when he was an offensive coach with the Los Angeles Chargers, and head coach Mike McCoy would ask Sirianni if he had prepared for great pass rushers and AFC West divisional rivals in Von Miller, then with the Broncos, and Khalil Mack, then with the Raiders.
“(McCoy would ask), ‘Hey, did you think about Vaughn Miller today?’ or ‘Did you think about Khalil Mack today?'” Sirianni said. “I said, ‘Everybody in his life didn’t think about him as much as we thought about him today.’ That’s going to be the same way we roll this week.”
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Sirianni and the Eagles also thought about Parsons in the 2021 draft. But the Eagles chose DeVonta Smith.
Are they better off? That isn’t the right question because the Eagles never really had a chance at Parsons, unless they were going to stay No. 6 and take him.
But that wasn’t realistic for a number of reasons. The first was that the Eagles traded that pick and got an extra first-rounder in 2022 by trading back to No. 12 three weeks before the draft.
From there, the Eagles traded with the Cowboys to move up to No. 10, giving the Cowboys a third-round pick. Sure, the Eagles could have taken Parsons there. But there’s no way the Cowboys would have made the trade if they had any inkling the Eagles were considering Parsons.
The Cowboys knew that the Eagles wanted to get ahead of the Giants at No. 11 to get Smith.
The Cowboys also knew that by dropping back to No. 12, they could get Parsons because neither the Eagles nor the Giants were looking to draft defense. Once Smith was gone, the Giants traded back with the Bears.
It’s likely the Eagles weren’t that interested in Parsons anyway. Sure, Parsons had a great career at Penn State, but he didn’t play at all in 2020 because he opted out for COVID concerns.
The Eagles were coming off a 4-11-1 season. They fired head coach Doug Pederson and traded quarterback Carson Wentz. They needed a sure thing, especially on offense. That made Smith an easy pick.
Sirianni, just hired as Eagles coach a few months earlier, said he had studied Parsons video from the Dec. 2019 Cotton Bowl, when Parsons had 14 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 pass breakups and a quarterback hit.
“I remember that bowl game … and just thinking how much of a dynamic playmaker he is,” Sirianni said about Parsons. “To say that I remember the plan that we had, if we were going to draft him, I don’t remember. I think I was lobbying pretty hard for DeVonta. So, I was thinking more about that.
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“(Parsons) is doing the same things he was doing at Penn State, and he’s doing it at a high level in the NFL.”
So is Smith, who did play in the 2020 season at Alabama. He won the Heisman Trophy, and had 215 yards receiving in the national championship game − in the first half.
As a rookie, Smith set an Eagles rookie receiving record with 916 yards. So far, Smith has 353 yards through five games, ranking 14th among receivers. Smith on pace for 1,200 yards this season. That would tie Terrell Owens for seventh place in team history for a single season.
Smith will only get better. Fellow receiver A.J. Brown said Smith has added about 5 pounds of muscle. That might not seem like much for someone who weighs 170 pounds, but Brown said the difference is evident.
“He’s gotten stronger. And you kind of see that in his game, in his play,” Brown said. “He’s not letting guys push him around. I think that’s huge in route-running. You can’t let nobody push you around, and I think he’s doing a great job with that.”
As for Parsons, the Cowboys didn’t even know what they had in Parsons during the draft when they pegged him at inside linebacker. It was during the summer of 2021 that defensive coordinator Dan Quinn started experimenting with Parsons on the edge.
The Cowboys were forced to use Parsons there in Week 2 and Week 3 of the 2021 season with DeMarcus Lawrence sidelined with a foot injury and Randy Gregory battling a COVID-19 illness.
Parsons had 1.5 sacks in the two games, the second coming in Dallas’ 41-21 win over the Eagles. Parsons then went back to defensive end against Denver in November and finished with 2.5 sacks.
In all, Parsons set a Cowboys rookie sack record with 13.
Parsons has been even better this season. He’s tied for the NFL lead with 6 sacks, and some are comparing him to Lawrence Taylor. Parsons has 19.0 career sacks in his first 21 games as a pro, the second most sacks through the first 21games of a career since sacks became official in 1982, trailing only Joey Bosa.
So it’s not a question of whether the Eagles should have taken Parsons because he was never really an option. As it turned out, both teams got the players they needed.
3 questions with Andre Dillard
Andre Dillard was firmly entrenched as the backup left tackle. That is, until he broke his arm in practice in late August, had surgery and was placed on injured reserve. Dillard is expected to be activated off IR in time for the game Sunday night. For Dillard, the Eagles’ first-round pick in 2019, it was the latest of many setbacks.
Question: How hungry are you to play?
Answer: I’ve been hungry for it for a long time. I’ve been working my tail off every day to get back and healthy, stay strong, in shape. I had a good couple weeks of practice now, so I’m ready for whatever they got for me.
What was the procedure?
They made a five-inch incision and screwed in a metal plate onto the bone, like eight screws. So, I have a pretty gnarly-looking scar there now.
Will that stay there forever?
Yeah, they never have to take it out. I’m kind of like a cyborg now. You know, I could go by that.
Can Eagles stay unbeaten?
Many people will be caught up in whether Dak Prescott returns or Cooper Rush starts a fifth straight game after winning his first four starts.
But that’s not what this game is about. The Cowboys will have trouble scoring no matter who the quarterback is − and who would’ve expected that after last season, when the Cowboys scored 92 points in two games against the Eagles? That is especially true with Amari Cooper playing for the Browns, Michael Gallup just returning from a torn ACL and CeeDee Lamb added to the injury report (he’s questionable) with a hip injury.
Likewise, the Eagles will have their issues scoring against the Cowboys defense. Both teams have top-10 defenses. In addition to the Cowboys pass rushers, they also have Trevon Diggs in the secondary. Diggs had 11 interceptions last season.
But the Eagles will have fewer issues scoring than the Cowboys.
Score: Eagles 22, Cowboys 13
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
