Packers' Parsons frustrated with lack of holding calls, criticizes refs

Green Bay Packers linebacker Micah Parsons on Thursday expressed his frustrations with NFL officials this season.

There has been a notable lack of holding penalties called against blockers facing Parsons during his career. He once had an 11-game stretch without getting a single holding call as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, according to Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams.

"Five years of not getting a call, you eventually stop worrying about it," Parsons told reporters, including The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.

He added, "That's the part of being one of the best. It comes with parts that you hate, parts that the league lets go. You can tell how they call the games. They don't call offsides for offense, but they'll call it on defense. They won't call offensive pass interference, but they'll call defensive pass interference immediately. We know what they're trying to do. They wanna load the points up so fans can be happy. They'll call defensive holding, but they won't call offensive holding. Let's just wake up."

Videos showing Parsons being held during his first five games as a Packer have gone viral recently. The 26-year-old ranks fourth in the NFL with 29 pressures this season, according to PFF, but he's registered only 2.5 sacks. He's also being double-teamed at the second-highest rate among edge rushers, behind only Myles Garrett.

The Cincinnati Bengals weren't flagged for offensive holding on any of Joe Flacco's 46 dropbacks against the Packers in Week 6.

"That's definitely going to be a conversation pregame," Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur said of officials failing to call such penalties, according to USA Today's Ryan Wood.

On Sunday, the Packers will visit the Arizona Cardinals, who have been called for offensive holding 10 times this season, the sixth-highest mark in the NFL.