Jerry Jones addresses Cowboys roof incident, places blame for sheet metal falling

The Dallas Cowboys (3-7) intended to play Monday’s Week 12 home game against the Houston Texans (7-4) with the retractable roof open at AT&T Stadium.

That would have marked the first time the roof was open for a Cowboys game since Oct. 30, 2022, a day game against the Chicago Bears (4-6). But as the Cowboys were in the process of opening the roof about three hours before kickoff, a piece of sheet metal and some additional small debris fell onto the field. No one was injured.

Team owner Jerry Jones said the wind gusts that started early afternoon in Arlington and got stronger throughout the day played a role in the piece of sheet metal falling.

“I’ll tell you right now what you had: You had heavy winds in this area during the day and apparently right about the time when we opened it as well as before the winds had compromised part of the roof, and then we opened it, well then it had that piece, the wind took it and got under it,” Jones said, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “Rest assured, all of that kind of stuff is done out of the way of any fan or customer or anybody like that.”

Dallas Cowboys forced to close AT&T Stadium roof after sheet metal falls on field

While assessing the situation, another piece of loose metal was seen stuck in a catwalk. It had to be bolted down before the game and the Cowboys decided to play with the roof closed.

Jones said the roof is “fixable.” He added there was no risk in starting the game on time after the roof malfunction.

“They wouldn’t have done this game, or started this game, had there been any risk at all,” Jones said. “Not only the NFL wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t if there was any risk at all. And there was no risk at all when we started the game.”

The Texans defeated the Cowboys, 34-10, giving Dallas its fifth consecutive loss.