Micah Parsons calls out Cowboys teammate who criticized his podcast

Drama and the Dallas Cowboys are the peanut butter and jelly, the milk and Oreos of the NFL, especially in the offseason. It's been perhaps the most consistent so far this offseason regarding the contract situations with quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and even star linebacker Micah Parsons -- though the latter is the least of the priorities for now.

Of course, we can't just stop with contract negotiations and disputes. This is the Cowboys and America's Team is always going to add a special brand of flavoring to the mix when it comes to drama. Enter Parsons and veteran safety Malik Hooker.

Appearing on Keyshawn Johnson's podcast, Hooker was asked about Parson's podcast hosted on Bleacher Report, The Edge, and its effect on Dallas. Hooker offered some criticism focused on the edge rusher making sure that he was keeping attention on the team and not his exploits in the media, via Pro Football Talk:

"My advice for Micah would be just make sure," Hooker said. "Because if we’re at work and and the run game’s terrible, but you’re doing a podcast every week and you know the run game is terrible, then what are you really caring about? Are you caring about the crowd that was watching the podcast or are you caring about the success of our team and the Super Bowl that we’re trying to reach?"

On one hand, you can see where Hooker is coming from. He wants to ensure that the collective goals of the Cowboys are Parsons' primary focus. On the other hand, you have what Parsons took from this, which was clearly taking it personally.

Micah Parsons calls out Cowboys teammate Malik Hooker over podcast criticism

Parsons responded to Hooker and clearly saw the criticism and questions from his teammate as a personal affront, one he got defensive about pretty quickly., via the Dallas Morning News.

"Just wish you said this to me but instead on some podcast," Parsons wrote. "And family! @MalikHooker24 and you my locker mate! So you coulda said this any day! And you do realize I shoot the podcast on our off day! Why ain’t we talking about everyone preparations and focus."

Make no mistake, Parsons does seem to be a bit sensitive about the matter, especially from a better player. However, the linebacker's best point is undeniably that Hooker, if this was a legitimate concern or criticism to offer, should've kept this in-house and talked toe his teammate in the locker room, not air him and the podcast out in the media.

But again, this is the Cowboys, so of course it was said publicly (ironically on another podcast) and now is a story that Parsons felt compelled to address in the media as well. And so the beat goes on.

Hooker's point that this Cowboys team has Super Bowl aspirations is a bit rich in the context of the safety's comments essentially starting a minor in-house beef between defensive teammates. That's another distraction that could keep Dallas from such goals, as it turns out.

Maybe this will all be nothing and quickly be water under the bridge. And yet, this feels like the frutstrating norm for the Cowboys if you asked almost any fan. This team can't get out of its own way and this is a pretty egregious example of such an issue.