Micah Parsons is spending his offseason bulking up.
The Cowboys linebacker hasn't attended the team's voluntary workouts as he focuses on gaining extra weight this offseason.
"I'm trying to bulk up and just focus on me and my development, carrying that load," he said at a charity event Wednesday, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Parsons is listed at 245 pounds but said he's up to 251. The goal is to handle better the battering that comes with going up against bigger offensive linemen play-in and play-out as he gets more snaps as a pass rusher.
"It's hard battling 300-pound guys at 245 pounds every week," Parsons said, via The Athletic's Jon Machota. "So, I'm just trying to put (on) five pounds of muscle. Just eating right and just living right."
Per Next Gen Stats, Parsons aligned as an edge on 78.2% of snaps in 2022, up from 39.8% his rookie year, making him a full-time pass rusher (blitz rate in 2021: 52.7%; 2022: 85.8%).
Parsons noted that the reps up front, as opposed to off the ball, led to the nagging injuries that bothered him down the stretch of the 2022 campaign. He hopes adding bulk this season will keep those issues from rearing their head again in 2023.
The 23-year-old said the plan to play full-time at edge this season would allow him to hone his focus.
"It just allows me to study. Instead of studying everything, I can just study that one guy I just need to beat on Sunday, studying how to win faster," Parsons said. "Before I was focused on a lot, focused on running backs and focused on receivers and focused on concepts. Now I can just focus on running [to the quarterback] and stopping the run. I'm ready to show what I can do."
Parsons noted that he plans on joining the Cowboys for OTAs when they kick off on May 22.
