FRISCO, Texas -- Micah Parsons is active and will make his return to the Dallas Cowboys defense against Philadelphia on Sunday.

Parsons missed the past four games with a high left ankle sprain suffered in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys' Week 4 win against the New York Giants. He was able to take part in three practices during the week on a limited basis and was officially listed as questionable.

Despite the prolonged absence, Parsons still leads the Cowboys in quarterback pressures (21) and is two off the team lead in sacks, currently held by DeMarcus Lawrence with three. Lawrence, with a midfoot sprain, has also missed the past four games.

Asked Wednesday whether he would see a full allotment of snaps if active Sunday, Parsons said, "Once I'm playing, I'm playing. That's just the competitor in me. I was banged up plenty of times and I'm just like once I'm competing, I'm competing. It's hard to restrain that."

The Cowboys, however, are expected to keep a close eye on his work during the game. Parsons played in 85% of the defensive snaps in the first four games of the season. He was credited with 18 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss and 1 pass deflection.

"I would expect nothing less from Micah," coach Mike McCarthy said Friday. "That's his mindset on everything. He's not just extremely talented football player, he's about as competitive an individual as I've come across in this business."