The Dallas Cowboys have healthy competition within their locker room heading into the 2022 NFL season.
Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence declared he wanted to take back the designation of Cowboys sack leader from linebacker Micah Parsons saying he "let a rookie show me up last year."
No longer a rookie, Parsons offered his rebuttal: Come get it.
"It makes me want to compete," Parsons said of Lawrence's comments, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. "It's healthy for the locker room. I want D-Law to step up. I want D-Law to be who he is. I'm not taking that away from him. But sorry to tell him, he's never getting that back. I want him to get all the enjoyment that he possibly can, feed his head so he can be a 10-sack guy, great. But if 10's the number, I'm going for 20. You've just got to go out there and compete. It's just going to be a race to the quarterback, like it or not. I'm excited."
Lawrence generated three sacks while playing just seven games in 2021 due to injury. Parsons netted 13 as a rookie playing multiple spots in the Cowboys formation. In eight seasons in Dallas, Lawrence has netted more than eight sacks just twice, with a career-high of 14.5 in 2017.
As the Cowboys attempt to repeat as NFC East division champs, having two of their best defensive players compete to see who can get to the quarterback first will only aid Dan Quinn's D, which is looking to improve upon the impressive turnaround it saw in 2021.
