Micah Parsons meant no harm with his comments regarding Jalen Hurts' MVP candidacy but he also isn't taking back what he said, either.
The Eagles and Cowboys are two of the best teams in the NFC with Philadelphia sitting atop the conference and Dallas sitting comfortably as the top wild-card team. The NFC East rivals have one more meeting this season and Parsons has done all he can to heat up the matchup to the highest level -- even if that wasn't his intention.
The Cowboys linebacker appeared on Von Miller's podcast, "The Voncast," on Tuesday and credited the Eagles' success to "system and team" when discussing Hurts being considered an MVP-favorite. This not-so-surprisingly led to the quarterback's teammates coming to his defense Wednesday.
Well, Parsons was prepared to clarify his comments without backtracking on what he said but instead giving credit to Philadelphia's defense.
"I mean, you've got to stand on everything you say just as a man," Parsons said, as transcribed by ESPN's Todd Archer, "but obviously, they small-clipped it and took one line of what was really talked about. But no pun intended or no disrespect to Hurts, I think he's doing great this year. But you know me, I'm a defensive guy and I said the Eagles' defense is the team to watch. They just got helluva players over there that's been making plays all year, so from a defensive aspect, I know how offensive guys get all the credit, so I just want to stick up for the defensive guys because the conversation was most valuable player, is it just quarterback?"
The 23-year-old has been a force for Dallas again and is in the discussion for 2022 Defensive Player of the Year yet again as he has 12 sacks and three forced fumbles through 13 games, nearing the output that got earned him All-Pro status in his first NFL season.
Of course, he's going to give credit to the defense.
However, Parsons wasn't done there, further sharing his anger about the situation.
"I was just having a good conversation with Von," Parsons said, as transcribed by Archer, "a person I look up to, helped him on his podcast, and the next thing I know it's a (expletive) storm. You see how that goes. We were just talking football. Not once did I ever disrespect Hurts or any other player in any way. I'm just talking football. Like, if football is a hurtful conversation, then what are we playing for? I think the job is more hurtful than the conversation, you know?
"If we can't have opinions, I mean, you guys get to talk (expletive) all day, why can't we talk a little chatter? I don't understand what's so hurtful when we talk about each other. We're the players. We play every day. So, I think people should have opinions."
The Cowboys welcome the Eagles to AT&T Stadium on Christmas Eve. Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. ET.
