Dallas Cowboys star edge rusher Micah Parsons suffered a high ankle sprain on September 26th during a Thursday Night Football game against the New York Giants which claimed a number of casualties, including Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Nabers returned to action last Sunday, but multiple weeks later, Parsons still has not made a return to the field.

On Thursday, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was asked about Micah Parsons’ status, and while McCarthy did acknowledge that Parsons is improving, he noted that the three-time All-Pro selection was still not ready to get back on the field.

“Micah is improving. He’ll be part of the rehab group today. We don’t have him set for reps,” Mike McCarthy said on Thursday, per Jon Machoda of The Athletic.

As for why Parsons isn’t set for any reps, and therefore won’t be returning for a crucial Sunday Night Football tilt against the San Francisco 49ers, McCarthy explained that there’s a return to play threshold that Parsons has not yet met.

“Well, there’s always a threshold of return to play. He’s not over that threshold yet. Until he can get out there and cut it loose, I think when you have veteran players, the general is if they don’t practice on Saturday they’re not going to play in the game,” McCarthy said. “Obviously you’d like to have him go in pads first on Thursday, but Micah has played a lot of football for us. He has a high understanding of our defense. That’s kind of a general approach that I’ve always taken.”

Despite the fact that Micah Parsons was off to a slow start during the 2024 season, his presence in a virtual must-win game against another NFC postseason hopeful would’ve been huge. But now, a dreadful Cowboys defense has to take the field for a third time without their biggest star.

Shorthanded Cowboys defense faces equally banged-up 49ers offense 

The only silver lining for Cowboys fans is that the San Francisco 49ers offense is even worse off health-wise than Dallas’ defense is. Last week, San Francisco lost All-Pro receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a torn ACL and Deebo Samuel to an illness that landed him in the hospital. Jauan Jennings was ruled out ahead of the game, and Christian McCaffrey still hasn’t played in a game since Super Bowl LVIII.

But thus far in 2024, the Cowboys defense has struggled regardless of the opponent. Dallas is 31st in points allowed, 24th in yards allowed and 24th in turnover percentage. Last year in those same three categories, the Cowboys ranked 5th, 5th and 4th respectively.