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Micah Parsons returns to Dallas on Sunday.

The Micah Parsons trade has been front and center as the Dallas Cowboys get ready to face the Green Bay Packers after an August trade.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has stood by his decision to trade Parsons, a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, ever since, despite a 1-2 start. Jones opened up on Tuesday that he doesn’t have hard feelings about the trade.

“Absolutely not,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan. “Not at all. It was nothing personal. I told you, I like Micah. There was no issue regarding feelings relative to the negotiation. Certainly not on my part. It was just par for the course.”

“The facts are, the negotiation was ongoing. People made a lot that we weren’t talking. I had on the table the best deal I could do — period. I wanted to see, by chumming it up out there [on the trade market], what Micah might be worth in trade value,” Jones added. “That was the plan all the way through the negotiation.”

Jerry Jones Wants the Win in Trade Aftermath

Parsons and Dallas remained at a standstill all offseason regarding the star linebacker’s contract. The Cowboys gave him the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and Parsons eventually wanted to be traded for more money. Green Bay gave him a four-year, $186 million deal via the trade.

Dallas acquired defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round draft picks in exchange for Parsons on Aug. 28, and the Cowboys appear losers of the trade thus far. Clark has four tackles and a sack for a defense that ranks last in the NFL against the pass. Parsons has five tackles and 1.5 sacks in limited playing time as he gets healthy and acclimates to a new team, and the Packers have the third-best defense in the league.

Despite that disparity, Jones wants his team to get to 2-2 against a Packers team that looked like one of the league’s best in the first two weeks. The Cowboys are looking to bounce back from a 31-14 loss to the Chicago Bears, which rolled up 385 yards of total offense at home.

“Yes, I do,” Jones said about getting a win against the Packers. “Of course, I’ve said this time and time again, I think the world of Micah as an individual and of course know him well. I might say I wish him well — except it’s obvious I don’t this weekend, in terms of Green Bay winning the ball game.”

Familiarity Could Favor Cowboys

While Parsons hasn’t been a major factor yet for the Packers, Sunday might not be the game for Parsons to take off. Jones expects that his team will know what to expect from their former star.

“Over the years when I saw Micah was mitigated, when I saw teams play him pretty well — he’s going to make some plays no matter how you play — but when I saw people play us well with Micah in the game, and it did happen, then obviously we’ll be looking to try to run those kinds of plays,” Jones said.

Matthew Davis covers the NFL, WNBA and college sports for Heavy.com. As a contributing writer to the StarTribune, he has also covered Minnesota prep sports since 2016. More about Matthew Davis