Next step for Micah Parsons begins with summer lessons from Cowboys great DeMarcus Ware

FRISCO — DeMarcus Ware tried to warn Micah Parsons.

Ware, the retired NFL linebacker and future Hall of Famer, was attempting to highschool Micah Parsons, the Cowboys’ rookie linebacker, on dealing with Tampa Bay tight finish Rob Gronkowski.

Ware saved telling Parsons don’t let Gronkowski get behind him with a seam route. Read your keys. Stay with the massive tight finish down the sphere.

In the Cowboys’ 2021 season opener, Gronkowski caught eight passes for 90 yards with two touchdowns. One of these catches got here with Gronkowski getting behind Parsons.

“I said listen, ‘When you playing the interior, Gronk is going to go up the seam and they’re going to put a guy down at the flat.’” mentioned Ware, the Cowboys’ all-time sack chief at 117. “And guess what? They ran right behind him and threw a pass behind him. And I texted him during the game, I said, ‘Hey what I tell your [butt]? This is what I told you they’re going to do, carry the seam they’re going to disguise everything because you’re young.’ “

This summer, Ware and Parsons will huddle together on a football field near you and go over things. The two men will watch film together. The two men will get on the field with other pass rushers like DeMarcus Lawrence and Von Miller and interior defender Fletcher Cox and go over pass rush moves.

It’s part of the learning process for Parsons who enters Year 2 of a young career that saw him become the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year and finish second to the Steelers’ TJ Watt for NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year with 13 sacks.

Parsons was the do-everything linebacker in a revitalized defense thanks to defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and veteran senior defensive assistant George Edwards’ vision.

Now here comes the hard part for Parsons: Do it again. This time with everybody watching and waiting to see what you’re going to do.

“They was looking for me last year,” Parsons mentioned of opponents. “It’s going to be a little different. It’s going to be more challenging. But I never back down from a challenge. The good ones, the great ones, just find a way. No matter what comes at me. I know things are going to be frustrating, but I’ve got to find a way to get home. I’ve got to find a way to make plays because that’s what gets me going.”

The second-year is always the hardest for young defensive players. The Defensive Rookie of the Years in 2020 and 2019, Chase Young and Nick Bosa, each suffered injuries in Year 2.

However, success can follow defensive players in Year 2.

Colts linebacker Darius Leonard, the 2018, Defensive Rookie of the Year, earned a Pro Bowl berth and was named to the Associated Press second-team in Year 2.

In 2017, Chargers defensive end Jose Bosa’s second NFL season, after being named Defensive Rookie of the Year, was fantastic. He had 12.5 sacks and 70 tackles while earning a Pro Bowl appearance.

Ware understands what Parsons is about to go through.

In Ware’s second NFL season, 2006, he was named to the Pro Bowl and was a second-team All-Pro selection. Ware increased his tackles (73) and sacks totals (11.5) from his rookie season.

Ware knew tackles and tight ends were coming after him the moment he rushed off the edge. He perfected a signature move but had to develop counters if his initial attempts were halted.

When Wade Phillips took over as the Cowboys’ coach, the defensive-minded head man made sure to put Ware in different spots along the line of scrimmage. He moved him from outside linebacker to defensive end. As Ware’s career developed, he became more unstoppable due to the unpredictability of where he was going to line up and what he might do once he came after quarterbacks.

Parsons was lined up at different spots along the defense. He’s a traditional inside linebacker with the abilities to rush off the edge as an outside linebacker and someone who might even lineup at defensive end.

There are times where Parsons can lineup on the same side as defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence to minimize double-teams on either man.

“Everybody always looks at guys just for their speed but what else can I use you for to disguise you?” Ware said.

Ware knows the pressures that come with being the top pass rusher. He heard the noise about trying to get sacks in the fourth quarter of close games. He also heard the noise about setting the tone early in the game by getting a sack or a pressure.

Yes, the Cowboys have Lawrence, considered their top pass rusher for several years. Parsons’ emergence has now given the Cowboys a dual-threat attack in the passing game. At some point, if Parsons continues to develop, he’ll morph into the top pass rusher.

“I think you have to sharpen your toolbox in the offseason mentally,” Ware said. “You got the physical aspects. You know how to play football. Now how can I move before the ball is snapped? We’re talking about the snap counts and different movements, different tendencies studying that stuff and when you do that, now I know what play it is. Now I need to just go make it.”

Parsons is a student of the game and cherishes the moments with Ware because he’s only a text message away from getting chastised for a mistake.

Ware is hopeful those mistakes are limited in 2022.

“I’ve watched a little bit of [film of Ware],” Parsons said. “I watched a little bit of everybody this offseason, just learning how different people play and how different people react to things, but I’m going to play my own style, though. I think everyone is different, but how he saw the game and his reads, I can adapt that and absorb that knowledge from him.”

Parsons said he’s a different player from that Week 1 game against the Bucs last season. He watched film of not only Ware but Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and get an understanding of using power when he rushes the passer.

Former Cowboys right tackle La’el Collins was also a bug in Parsons’ ear and it was something he didn’t forget.

“You’ve got make them fear one thing.” Parsons said of what Collins told him. “I make them fear the speed and everything else can go off that. They’ve got to respect you in some aspect. They’ve got to fear the speed, fear the power, they’ve got to fear something about you that’s going to make them set just a little bit different. Once you show that, then you can do all your counters and all your moves and things you want to show. But they’ve got to respect (you) in some aspect.”

Classes start this summer with Professor Ware teaching a master class in the pass rush game.

Is Parsons ready to adapt the teachings to football fields in 2022?

“Micah just has to put his head down and just work, forget last year,” Parsons said. “I’m just really focused on this year and what I’m going to do. I’m not going to think about what I did before. I’m just thinking about how I can be dominant this year.”

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