“Micah is outstanding and rare, but I believe our best chance for a Super Bowl with Dak Prescott and the makeup of our supporting cast is in the numbers. I’ve always been right, or had the best chance of being right, when the numbers are right.” – Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to Jason Garrett and Maria Taylor on Micah Parsons trade
“I look at Jerry Jones and I still think he did the right thing. Micah Parsons is a fantastic player, but you need more than one great player on the defensive side of the ball. Even when they had Micah Parsons, this was not a championship defense.” – Rodney Harrison on Parsons trade
“The Chiefs’ offense got going, but I thought it was a bigger indication that this Baltimore defense is really bad. Hit the panic button right now.” – Devin McCourty on Ravens’ loss to the Chiefs
STAMFORD, Conn. – Sept. 28, 2025 – NBC Sports’ coverage of Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season continued tonight with a special on-site edition of Football Night in America from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, leading into coverage of Packers-Cowboys on Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock.
Tonight’s FNIA was on site in Arlington and featured host Maria Taylor, former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, three-time Super Bowl Champion Devin McCourty, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, NFL Insider Mike Florio, and fantasy sports industry pioneer Matthew Berry, with Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison, and co-host Jac Collinsworth. John Fanta handled highlights from NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
FNIA included Jason Garrett and Maria Taylor’s pre-game interview with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Taylor’s pregame interview with Packers QB Jordan Love, Chris Simms’ FaceTime interview with Giants QB Jaxson Dart, Garrett’s pregame interview with Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, and more.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst), Melissa Stark (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s game.
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Following are highlights from tonight’s Week 4 edition of Football Night in America on NBC and Peacock:
JERRY JONES INTERVIEW WITH JASON GARRETT & MARIA TAYLOR
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to Garrett on his reasoning for the Parsons trade: “You’re a Princeton graduate, and proud of it. One player or five or six players. Now, you say, you got to go get those players. We were able to bring one of them with us when we made the trade. Micah is outstanding and rare, but I believe our best chance for a Super Bowl with Dak Prescott and the makeup of our supporting cast is in the numbers. I’ve always been right, or had the best chance of being right, when the numbers are right.”
Jones on when it will be Dallas’ year: “I thought that this year it is very possible for us to have the kind of success our fans want us to have, but knowing that this year we will go ahead and make some decisions we wouldn’t have made had we not made the trade. When we made the Herschel Walker trade, the biggest value of that trade was it caused us to do things we would have never done. Like going to Las Vegas, if all you’ve got is a new pair of shoes, you’re not going to be a good gambler, but if you’ve got some extra, you can throw with it. That got us players like Charles Haley because we had those extra picks from Herschel Walker. That was a big part of the decision.”
Jones on the trade negotiations with Parsons and if he ever considered coming back to the table: “The words are accurate. The sensitivities and the feelings are not. I think a lot of Micah. I admire him. He’s a great player. He’s got a great family with him, but he got caught up in the numbers with me. I wanted the numbers of players that a player like Micah Parsons could get for us in the future, and I thought we could play some good football even though we didn’t have him in the short-term because we got Kenny (Clark) in. I like the numbers, and I’m fully aware because we had him four years. As I said earlier, that didn’t get us to a Super Bowl. We had to try something different to get there.”
On Jones’ emotions tonight: “Jason, of all people, you know my personal feeling with great players. Consequently, when you hear the crowd and you see that player come back, it reminds me of when we played Herschel Walker or when Emmitt Smith came back. You get a great ovation, just as [Micah] is getting here tonight.”
Jones to Garrett on AT&T Stadium opening game in 2009: “Jason, you opened this stadium, and I really thought we were going to get to a Super Bowl with you. But I’ll never forget when you opened this stadium and the thrill we had with you coaching the team.”
ON MICAH PARSONS
McCourty on Micah Parsons’ impact on the Packers: “Micah Parsons’ presence makes everyone around him better. You look at the DBs on Green Bay, they’re more aggressive and attacking the football. Micah Parsons impacts everyone around him.”
Garrett on Parsons: “You don’t need to know anything about football to know this guy is an amazing football player. Just watch the game. He literally leaps off the tape at you. He disrupts the offensive line. He disrupts the quarterback. That pervasive impact? With Parsons leaving Dallas, all of a sudden those defensive linemen, they have to go make the sacks.”
Dungy on Parsons’ return to Dallas: “I went through it when I went back to Tampa for the first time. You tell yourself all week, ‘I’m not going to be emotional. It’s just a game.’ But then you come back, you ride the bus instead of driving your car into the parking lot. You go into the visitor’s locker room instead of the home locker room. Then you see your boys on the other sideline and that emotion gets to you. I’ll tell you, when they introduced me for the first time in Tampa, I had tears in my eyes when the crowd started cheering.”
Harrison on the Parsons trade: “I look at (Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones and I still think he did the right thing. Micah Parsons is a fantastic player, but you need more than one great player on the defensive side of the ball. Even when they had Micah Parsons, this was not a championship defense. They didn’t need one star player, they needed multiple really good players.”
Packers QB Jordan Love to Maria Taylor on Parsons: “The same Micah you see on Sundays is the same dude we see in practice every day, trying to get as many sacks as possible. He’s the ultimate competitor.”
ON COWBOYS
Dungy on the Cowboys’ defense: “(Defensive coordinator) Matt Eberflus grew up in our system, the Tampa 2, with Monte Kiffin. It’s based on playing consistent, solid, fundamental football. They are not getting pressure and it’s really hurting them.”
Garrett on the post-game turkey leg he was given after leading the Cowboys to a Thanksgiving Day win over the Packers in 1994: “I had that turkey leg for 20 years in my freezer. About 10 years ago, I said, ‘I gotta get rid of this thing.’ There was mold building up, it wasn’t good.”
ON PACKERS
Harrison on the Packers’ offense: “I look at the Packers offensively and they have to get Josh Jacobs going. I know the offensive line has been a little shaky, but this is not a tough enough offense where they can line up in a two back I-formation and run the ball 40 times. (Head coach) Matt LaFleur has to be a little more creative.”
Harrison on the Packers’ defense since acquiring Parsons: “Green Bay had a lot of really good defensive players, but they didn’t have an identity. Now they have an identity.”
Harrison on who the toughest pass-catcher to defend right now is: “I would say (Packers TE) Tucker Kraft. He’s athletic, big, and has tremendous run-after-the-catch ability.”
ON CHIEFS
Simms on the return of Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy in their win over the Ravens: “Even the great Patrick Mahomes needs help, and Xavier Worthy opened the offense. He was the star of the day. It stopped making things so hard for them.”
ON RAVENS
McCourty on the Ravens’ 37-20 loss to the Chiefs: “The Chiefs’ offense got going, but I thought it was a bigger indication that this Baltimore defense is really bad. Hit the panic button right now.”
Florio on Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson’s injury: “After the game, Coach John Harbaugh had no update on the severity of the Lamar Jackson hamstring injury. I’ve been working the phone and it’s crickets, which means it’s something to keep an eye on.”
ON EAGLES
Garrett on the Eagles’ win over the Buccaneers: “They know how to win. They have a willfulness about their team…They pick each other up. They look at each other and say, ‘What do we need to do to win?’ and they do it.”
McCourty: “But is this sustainable? Saquon Barkley is averaging around three yards a carry. I don’t know that this team wants to play this style all year long, and if they can continue to win games like this.”
ON FALCONS
Simms on the Falcons’ win over the Commanders: “Let’s not forget, last week Michael Penix Jr. played the worst game of his NFL career. You know what today was? Probably the best game of his NFL career…We saw Drake London, (Kyle) Pitts, Bijan Robinson all heavily involved in that offense. When they are, they can be dangerous.”
ON GIANTS
Simms on Giants QB Jaxson Dart: “The game wasn’t too big for him. I think that’s the biggest thing. He competes. He gives that offense an edge. Not a huge day passing the football, but the plays he made with his legs and the energy he brought to the stadium were really important.”
McCourty: “That energy fed over to the defense. The defensive line attacked the Chargers’ offensive line. (Justin) Herbert was under pressure all day and never got into a good rhythm.”
ON JAGUARS
Florio on the post-game verbal altercation between Jaguars head coach Liam Coen and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh: “Earlier in the week, Robert Saleh praised the Jaguars for having an elite signal stealing system, but he said it’s legal. That word has a certain connotation, so Liam Coen, who’s known to have a bit of a short fuse, had some things to say. My understanding is Saleh only intended to be complimentary and would acknowledge he didn’t use the best word in framing his compliment.”
--FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA--
