CeeDee Lamb was frustrated after he lost track of the ball in the sun on an incomplete pass, which prevented the Dallas Cowboys from scoring a go-ahead touchdown during the first half of their 34-6 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was irritated that the issue of the sun had come up again in his $1.2 billion stadium, which has glass doors at both ends.
AT&T Stadium has an unusual east-west alignment, which is different from most stadiums that are north-south. On clear days, the sun shines through the windows on the west side during the first half of games that start in the afternoon.
In the second quarter, Lamb, the Cowboys’ star receiver, was running a crossing route in the end zone, looking into the sun. When a pass from Cooper Rush came his way, it went behind him, and he couldn’t adjust in time to catch it.
Lamb pointed to his eyes in frustration and made similar gestures on the sideline during another tough home loss for the Cowboys (3-6), who have now lost four games in a row and are 0-4 at AT&T Stadium.
“I couldn’t see the ball. Couldn’t see the ball, at all. The sun,” said Lamb, who had just ended a lengthy preseason holdout by signing a $136 million, four-year contract extension in late August.
When asked if the Cowboys should install curtains to block the sun, Lamb answered, “Yes. One thousand percent.”
And when asked if he had suggested this idea to Jerry Jones, Lamb joked, “I mean, y’all are doing my job for me right now.”
This idea of putting up curtains has been brought up many times before, but Jones has always rejected it. The 82-year-old billionaire was particularly annoyed by the question and responded strongly in his post-game comments.
“By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we flip the coin, so we do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium,” Jones said. “Let’s just tear the damn stadium down and build another one. Are you kidding me?”
While Jones’ response could be seen as a criticism of head coach Mike McCarthy, he insisted that it wasn’t.
“Every team that comes in here has the same issues,” Jones said. “They know where the sun is going to be. Every team has the same thing. I’m not saying (it’s on McCarthy). I’m saying the world knows where the sun is. We get to know that almost a year in advance. So someone asked me about the sun. What about the sun? Where’s the moon? We’re fine. But everybody plays in the sun out here.”
The Cowboys are now preparing for the possibility that quarterback Dak Prescott will need season-ending surgery for a torn hamstring. They have lost five straight games at AT&T Stadium, with five turnovers in each of their last two losses.
The issue of the curtains, or lack of them, is just another source of frustration. The next time the sun will be a factor will be on Thanksgiving Day, when the Cowboys play the New York Giants.
“You can’t win games turning the ball over five times,” McCarthy said. “I don’t give a (expletive) who lines up. So that’s the part we got to get right.”
