Now granted, the idea of Parsons not playing in the final preseason game isn’t particularly controversial, as why risk the health of one of the best players on the team in a meaningless outing? But making what some considered a joke out of the proceedings, turning his contractual holdout into the big story of the game? Well, that certainly isn’t going to make any organization happy, even the Cowboys, who seemed to power AT&T Stadium on drama alone.

Talking to reporters after the game on Saturday, head coach Brian Schottenheimer noted that he would have to talk to Parsons about what went down and his plans moving forward, as the Cowboys can’t fully prepare for what’s next without knowing the status of their star player.

“Without talking to Micah, I need to figure out what he was doing and why he was doing it,” Schottenheimer told ESPN on Saturday. “So, until I talk to him, I’m obviously not going to talk about it.”

Now obviously, if Parsons isn’t going to play for the Cowboys in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s hard to imagine a world where Schottenheimer, Jerry Jones, or any member of the team would want to see the Penn State product going viral for a similar situation at Lincoln Financial Field.

And yet, if the Cowboys are going to get much of anything done this season, one year removed from their worst campaigns in years, it’s hard to imagine a world where Parsons isn’t a big part of it, which is why the two sides need to come together or make a Herschel Walker-style trade that can set Dallas up for long-term success.