For a guy who’s had his past two seasons ended in the playoffs by San Francisco, Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons sure has a lot of good things to say about the 49ers.
Parsons is quickly becoming the NFL’s prominent active player with a podcast (shoutout to Draymond Green and ‘The New Media’) as he has been making recent headlines on his new show “The Edge with Micah Parsons”.
In his latest episode, Parsons heaped praise on 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and breakout edge rusher Drake Jackson, who racked up three sacks in the season opener on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
Parsons is familiar with Purdy’s game. Purdy and the Niners topped the Cowboys 19-12 in last year’s NFC Divisional Round and they’re scheduled to face off again in Week 6 when the 49ers will host their longtime rival at Levi’s Stadium.
“I just don’t think that we should sleep on Brock Purdy no more,” Parsons said. “Yes, he was a seventh-round pick. Yes, he came in late in the season and won six straight games, took them to the NFC Championship game before his injury. But Purdy, you will not slept on no more, brother. I think people are coming for you the same way they come for (Aaron) Rodgers, they come for (Patrick) Mahomes. Yes, you’re surrounded by a great team, but you are playing your butt off. You are one hell of a story right now, brother.”
Purdy is yet to lose a game he has finished, going 9-0 in such contests since he took over for Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 last season. The 23-year-old is also the first quarterback to ever win each of his first six career NFL regular season starts and throw at least two touchdowns in each game and also the first quarterback to ever have a 95+ passer rating through his first six starts.
“I think Purdy’s a top-15 quarterback,” Parsons said. “There are still things that we wanna see from Purdy. Not when Purdy’s winning, but when Purdy’s down. I think the adversity aspect of a football game is huge. Learning how to play from behind, learning how to play situational football. I’m not saying it’s something he can’t do, I’m saying it’s something we just haven’t seen yet.”
Parsons didn’t stop there when discussing the Niners, as he also showed some love to Jackson, who is currently tied for the NFL sack lead (three) with Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt and Jacksonville’s Josh Allen.
"A guy that no one's talking about — Drake Jackson,” Parsons said. “He had three sacks. Why is no one talking about Drake Jackson? We’re talking about pass rushers, it's always good to talk about me and all the other prolific guys, Maxx Crosby. It goes back to last year, (Steelers defensive lineman) Alex Highsmith. Alex Highsmith had (14.5) sacks and no one talked about him. He held it down when T.J. Watt was down with injury, and he dominated. And he got extended, but no one talks about Alex Highsmith. I thought he had a great year and was a dominant pass rusher last year.
"So don't let these guys that get thrown under that sunlight because he's surrounding guys like Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, and guys like that because they're loaded with such a great team. I think he's a person I'm going to have to look out for."
Considering Parsons’ pedigree as an emerging superstar for the Cowboys, this is some lofty praise for Jackson after his breakout game.