LOOK: Micah Parsons sports club on left hand due to laceration, not fracture

After practicing in a limited capacity on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Dallas Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons is sporting a club on his left hand for the Week 17 matchup versus Tennessee.

The club provides extra protection for his hand, which is damaged due to a laceration, not a fracture, according to Cowboys sideline reporter Kristi Scales.

Dallas ruled Parsons active tonight and, per Scales, they won’t put him on a pitch count. However, the playoff picture factors into the playing time for all Cowboys players on Thursday night. A win versus the Titans is key for momentum, however, unless the Eagles lose this week, it doesn’t make a dent in the NFC East title race.

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Although Parsons is playing, the Cowboys’ leading rusher, Tony Pollard, will not play. The team ruled him out in a move that Mike McCarthy called, “being smart.”

McCarthy advocates for Parsons to win DPOY

Heading into the Dallas Cowboys‘ Week 17 road matchup versus the Tennessee Titans, Mike McCarthy made his case for Micah Parsons winning the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

The Penn State alum trails San Francisco edge rusher Nick Bosa in the current Vegas odds for the DPOY award, but as McCarthy pointed out on Tuesday, Parsons is achieving similar results with less experience than his 49ers competition.

“Well, I think he’s done so much so fast,” McCarthy said in his press conference. “I think he’s had that level of production for the season. He gets a tremendous amount of attention, he impacts the game even when it doesn’t show up on the stat chart. And no different for Nick Bosa.

“Having a chance to compete, those are the guys who keep you up a little bit later when you’re thinking about protection, third down, situational football. And I think the biggest thing too for Micah is his ability to – a couple of those scrambles the past week, the way he closes down and runs down a quarterback. He can make plays all over the field. You look at the play he made against Detroit. Impact player at an elite level and makes everyone around him better.”