Piece of metal falls from Cowboys’ stadium roof; no one hurt

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys had planned to open the AT&T Stadium roof ahead of Monday night’s loss to the Houston Texans, but the plan was scrapped because a piece of metal fell to the field as the roof was opening more than two hours before kickoff.

“We can confirm a piece of metal came loose and fell to the field [with some additional small debris] while the roof was in the process of opening,” the Cowboys said in a statement. “There were no injuries. It is being reviewed further, and a decision regarding the ability to re-open the roof safely will be made when possible.”

The Cowboys attributed high winds during the day Monday to contributing to the piece of metal falling and that the roof would remain closed for Monday night’s game.

“I know we opened it long before any fans or anybody is in there,” owner Jerry Jones said after the game. “The reason they do that is to make sure everything is working to avoid those kinds of risks if there’s any fans or anybody in here.”

Jones said there wasn’t any risk in going on with the game, which meant a delay or postponement wasn’t a consideration.

“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 roof has not been open for a Cowboys game in the past two years. In last week’s home game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the team intended to have the doors open for the game, but they would not open completely.

AT&T Stadium opened in 2009. The Cowboys are 2-5 all time with the roof open and retractable end-zone doors closed.

The last time the Cowboys opened the roof was Oct. 30, 2022, against the Chicago Bears, a 49-29 win.

The roof and doors were open that day.

Entering Monday, the Cowboys have lost their first four home games this season and five in a row overall when including last season’s wild-card loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys have not lost five straight home games since 2015 and have not lost the first five home games of a season since 1989 when they finished 1-15 in Jerry Jones’ first year as owner and general manager.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.