FRISCO, Texas – Four days remain until the Cowboys kick off the 2025 NFL season against the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The team traded All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. It's safe to say that changes things for the Cowboys pass rushing unit.
That said, one of the reasons Dallas made the trade was because of the trust they have in the depth at defensive end. A large part of that trust goes to rookie second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku, who has a chance to step into a massive role in his first NFL season.
"Of course it changes a lot," Ezeiruaku said of the Parsons trade. "But at the same time, this whole entire camp he wasn't practicing. So like I said it's still a surprise, but we've been practicing so we're just looking forward to going into Week 1."
What hasn't changed is Ezeiruaku and the Cowboys' pass rushers desire to get in the backfield, even though they know there's going to be work to do.
"I've always been hungry," Ezeiruaku said. "Especially the guys in the room, we've always been hungry to go get it and go hit the quarterback or sack the quarterback. At the same time, we understand it's a big piece of the pie that's missing or that's not here anymore, and we've got to fill that. And I think we're going to do exactly that."
Anytime a high draft pick joins a team, expectations are going to be high. From the outside looking in, expectations have seemingly risen even more for Ezeiruaku before he's even played a regular season snap.
From the inside looking out though, Ezeiruaku's mindset hasn't changed at all.
"It doesn't change my expectations at all," Ezeiruaku said. "I have high expectations for myself, and I know my guys have high expectations for me, and we have high expectations for each other. It doesn't change much of that, obviously it's a void that we'll have to fill, and I think that we'll be able to fill that."
On Thursday night, Ezeiruaku takes center stage at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia with an opportunity to loudly introduce himself as the next man up in Dallas.
"I'm ready," Ezeiruaku said. "We've got a good week of preparation coming up… I feel really good, I feel very confident."
