Cowboys Turn to Mike Pettine in a Hurry — and the Packers They Visit Sunday May Be Without Micah Parsons

FRISCO, Texas

The Dallas Cowboys did not wait for the trip to Lambeau Field to start fixing their defense. They started on Monday, in the head coach's press conference, when Brian Schottenheimer announced that veteran coach Mike Pettine is coming out of retirement to join the staff as a senior defensive assistant, according to the Associated Press via TSN. The timing tells the story: Dallas is 2-3, its defense sits at or near the bottom of the NFL in most major categories, and on Sunday night the Cowboys visit the Green Bay Packers for the Week 6 game that was supposed to mark Micah Parsons' return against his former team — a return that, according to Reuters, is no longer expected to happen.

The immediate backdrop is Thursday's 24-16 home loss to Tampa Bay, a game in which the Buccaneers started undrafted free agent quarterback Jalon Daniels in place of Baker Mayfield and still rolled up a season-high 419 yards against Dallas, according to the Associated Press. Owner Jerry Jones said afterward that the Cowboys were "right where we started relative to our defense," according to the Associated Press — a pointed verdict one season after Dallas fired coordinator Matt Eberflus after a single year.

Why Pettine, and why now

Pettine, 60, is not a stranger parachuting in. He worked with Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker in Green Bay, where Pettine was the defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2020 and gave Parker his first NFL job as a quality control coach in 2019, according to Athlon Sports. Parker, 34, is in his first season running an NFL defense. Pettine spent the past four seasons on the Minnesota Vikings' defensive staff before retiring, and he has been a coordinator for the Jets, Bills and Packers and a head coach in Cleveland, where he went 10-22 in 2014-15, according to the Associated Press.

Schottenheimer said the idea was not born in the Tampa Bay loss. He and Parker first raised it with Pettine in the spring, when Pettine chose to stay retired, and the Cowboys had discussed adding a veteran voice since Parker was hired in January — but only if the person was right, according to the Associated Press. ALL DLLS reported the same outline, with Schottenheimer describing Pettine as a fit who understands the 3-4 family and knows current Cowboys Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary from Green Bay. Pettine is expected to join the team Tuesday as a sounding board for Parker, ALL DLLS reported.

The numbers Dallas has to fix

The depth of the problem explains the urgency. Through five games, Dallas is allowing 27.2 points per game, ranked 26th in the league, and 395.4 yards per game, ranked 31st, with opponents converting 47.26 percent of third downs and the defense producing just 0.6 takeaways per game, according to ALL DLLS. The longer view is no kinder: since the Parsons trade before last season, The Ringer's Sheil Kapadia noted that Dallas has fielded the NFL's worst defense over a 22-game stretch, according to Heavy. The Cowboys spent two 2026 first-round picks on defensive players and added established names including defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., according to Heavy, and the results have not followed.

The week has not been smooth off the field, either. The defense held a players-only meeting to address its problems, according to Cowboys Wire, and an illness moving through the locker room has cost Dallas practice time: cornerbacks DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson were sent home Monday, Porter had the same bug before the Tampa Bay game before returning to work Monday, and receiver Jonathan Mingo has had it as well, according to Cowboys Wire. The same report noted offensive lineman Nick Leverett was waived, while linebacker DeMarvion Overshown is getting closer to a return.

No Parsons — and Green Bay has its own holes

The storyline that was meant to define Sunday night has dissolved. Parsons, traded from Dallas to Green Bay ahead of the 2025 season, has been sidelined since tearing his ACL last December against Denver, and the Packers are not expecting him to return to practice this week, according to Reuters, which cited ESPN reporting. Cowboys reporter Patrik Walker reported that, as things stand, Green Bay will be without Parsons, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and defensive lineman Javon Hargrave against Dallas, according to Heavy; Cowboys Wire separately reported Hargrave is out for the season with an Achilles tear, and that running back Josh Jacobs is no closer to returning from a suspension.

That thins a Packers defense that will instead lean on familiar faces in the other uniform: former Packers Clark and Gary now play for Dallas, and Gary leads the Cowboys with 15 pressures, according to Packers Wire. Packers Wire also framed the game as a duel of receiver duos — Christian Watson and rookie Matthew Golden for Green Bay against CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens for Dallas — in a matchup of the teams that produced last season's 40-40 tie, with kickoff set for Sunday night, October 18 at Lambeau Field, according to Sportradar.

What Sunday night will tell us

For Dallas, the Pettine hire cannot fix tackling or third downs by itself, and nobody at The Star is pretending a senior assistant changes a scheme in five days. What it can do is give a 34-year-old first-time coordinator the most experienced second set of eyes available — one who taught him the job in the first place. For Green Bay, the question is whether a defense missing its best pass rusher and two other starters can hold up against a Dallas offense built around Lamb and Pickens. Something has to give at Lambeau: one of the league's most generous defenses, or the Packers' patchwork one. Kickoff is Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday Night Football.

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Correction (October 14, 2026): An earlier version of this story said Dallas was allowing 30.1 points per game, ranked last in the league. The verified figures are 27.2 points per game, ranked 26th. The Cowboys' 395.4 yards allowed per game, ranked 31st, was correct as published.