FRISCO, Texas -- Two of the Dallas Cowboys' top defensive playmakers -- All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland (foot) and All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons (ankle) -- still have a ways to go to return to play in 2024.
Parsons, who led the NFL with 103 quarterback pressures last season, is still in the rehab group off to the side, which means he is not practicing. The 25-year-old engine of the Cowboys defense has yet to clear the hurdle of Cowboys director of rehab Britt Brown's ready-to-play ramp-up process, which is why he isn't practicing and trending toward missing his fourth consecutive game in Week 9.
"He's here. He's in the meetings. Until they clear the return to play with Britt, I really don't even entertain that thought," Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Thursday when asked about Parsons' return. "So he's not quite there yet."
During the Cowboys' three consecutive seasons with 12 wins from 2021 to 2023, they led the NFL in takeaways (93), interceptions (59) and quarterback pressure rate (41.4%). Those metrics have taken a nose dive in 2024 with both sidelined -- Bland since the end of training camp with a stress fracture and Parsons since the second half of their Week 4 game at the New York Giants. Dallas' five takeaways in 2024 are tied for the fifth fewest in the NFL and slightly below average, 17th in the league, in quarterback pressure rate (34.8%).
"He's an impact player," McCarthy said of Parsons on Wednesday. "Where he is in the rehab, he's making gains each week. He's been in every day. He's just not ready to get into the practice format. But yeah, definitely missed him."
Dallas activated Bland, the 2023 NFL interceptions leader (nine), off injured reserve Wednesday before his 21-day practice window closed. They needed to do so in order to maintain the ability to play Bland at some point in 2024; otherwise, he would have been placed on the season-ending injured reserve list.
McCarthy revealed the goal of Bland participating in practice on Thursday when the team works out in pads, but he said his participation will be dictated by how his warm-up goes. However, Bland was not spotted on the practice field during the media viewing portion on Thursday.
Naturally, with both superstars sidelined, the unit has plunged from being a top-five scoring defense (19.9 points per game allowed from 2021-2023, fifth best in the NFL) in the prior three seasons to the league's second-worst scoring defense in 2024, allowing 28.3 points per game. Only the 1-7 Carolina Panthers have had a worse scoring defense this season, surrendering 33.9 points per game.
Bland practiced fully on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the Cowboys' 47-9 home loss against the Detroit Lions in Week 6, but he didn't play on game day. Bland hasn't practiced since, working with the rehab group off to the side across the last couple of weeks, indicating that he has experienced some sort of setback in his rehab process.
"I think that's why, I know personally I always avoid timelines. I'm not in those specific meetings, and every injury is different," McCarthy said Wednesday when asking about Bland's rehab progress taking longer than expected. ... "We're not going to put him out there until he's ready to go. We're being smart about it, which you need to be for what he's experiencing right now. If he wants to share that with you, that's his business. Yeah, he's getting close. We just want to make sure he's ready to go when it's time to cut him loose."
