Nov 7, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) in action during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys certainly nailed their first-round pick in last year’s NFL Draft, selecting linebacker Micah Parsons with the 12th pick out of Penn State. Parsons went on to have an unbelievable year in his rookie season, racking up 13 sacks and three forced fumbles while showing off some impressive pass coverage skills. His season was good enough to be selected to the Pro Bowl and to be named as an All-Pro in just his first year.

While Parsons had a great individual year, the Cowboys fell short of where they believed they should have this season, losing in the wild-card round of the playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers.

When Parsons was asked on Thursday what his takeaway from the season would be, as well as expectations for next year were, he had a pretty blunt and honest answer.

“Expectations are to make it back into the game, make it back to the dance, make it back to the playoffs, and go way further than we did this year,” said Parsons. “Some people had us not even making it to the playoffs, but none of us were okay with the way we went out.”

He also added that he would remember losing in the first round as his biggest takeaway from the season.

It’s impressive to see this level of maturity from a 22-year-old rookie. I’m sure that many players would just be happy to have had as good of a season as Parsons’ did, but he is clearly far more focused on the team’s success.

Dallas will be returning most of the main cast of coaches, bringing back head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. It will be worth monitoring whether or not offensive coordinator Kellen Moore gets a head coaching job in the coming weeks, but with the same scheme and collection of coaches for Parsons, we can expect a number of great seasons to come for Parsons in the future.

[Kimberly A. Martin]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.