The rising rookie star of the Cowboys defense says a clip of Michael Jordan calling out his teammate keeps him motivated

• Cowboys rookie Micah Parsons is having a brilliant debut season.
• Parsons credits a story about Michael Jordan calling out his teammate for keeping him focused.

Dallas Cowboys rookie Micah Parsons' career is off to a thrilling start.

The 12th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft is already one of the most versatile defensive players in the league, and a heavy favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year at the season's end.

Listed as a linebacker, Parsons would more aptly be described simply as a playmaker in the Cowboys defense. Dallas puts him wherever they need him to be, and so far, he has delivered.

But Parsons isn't trying to let his hot start get away of him. Speaking with media ahead of the Cowboys Week 8 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, Parsons spoke about fighting off difficult weeks, and how he stays motivated to keep pushing himself to new heights even when the current heights are pretty good.

"If you go out there and you play okay, some people will be okay with that," Parsons said. "'I had an okay game; we won.' But I don't think Michael Jordan would ever be okay with dropping 15 points and be like, 'We won.'"

"You ever seen the video with the center and he had a great first quarter - he had 12 points - but that's all he had the rest of the game? [Jordan] was like, 'You need to do that the whole game.' So I think no one should be okay with just playing okay. I should have a higher expectation for myself and I think the coaches have the same expectations. I think that was weighing in on me."

In the video Parsons describes, Jordan tells the story of a game against the Utah Jazz in 1998. Center Luc Longley got off to a hot start for the Bulls, earning a compliment from Jordan. But after his hot start, Longley cooled off, and the Bulls wound up losing the game.

From his telling, it's clear that it's a moment Jordan has had in his head for some time.

Rather than let his play pass as good enough, Parsons is trying to keep his standards as high as Jordan's were. Good enough is not good enough.

While he's only seven games into his NFL career, so far, Parsons is succeeding.

On Sunday night against the Vikings, Parsons had possibly his best game yet, recording 11 total tackles as the Dallas defense held Minnesota to just 16 points and 278 total yards of offense to secure their sixth straight win.