ESPN color commentator Troy Aikman had plenty of thoughts to share about the Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 season ahead of their Week 11 ‘Monday Night Football’ clash with the Houston Texans.
The former Cowboys quarterback joined Dallas’ SportsRadio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM) to preview the game he’s preparing to call on ESPN. Among the topics Aikman discussed were the controversy surrounding the sunlight issues at AT&T Stadium and the current outlook for Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy.
Dallas will host the Texans on Monday, Nov. 18 at 8:15 p.m. ET for the two teams’ first meeting since 2022. The ‘Monday Night Football’ game will be broadcast on ESPN and ABC.
Troy Aikman discusses sun’s glare at AT&T Stadium
The sunlight issues at AT&T Stadium have been a hot topic all week following the Cowboys’ Week 10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
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During the game, quarterback Cooper Rush threw a pass targeting star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the end zone. The throw looked on target but fell incomplete. After the play, Lamb motioned to his eyes, and after the game, he confirmed that he didn’t catch the pass because it got lost in the sun and he couldn’t see it.
When asked if he’d be in favor of curtains in the stadium to block the sunlight, Lamb said, ‘1,000%.’
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones balked at the idea when asked about it later.
‘Well, let’s tear the damn stadium down and build another one?’ Jones said. ‘Are you kidding me?’
When Aikman was asked about the sunlight issues at AT&T Stadium, he said that it was something he had noticed ‘in every late-game window that I’ve called there.’ He also said it wouldn’t be an issue that could be solved by a player going to Jones and demanding a change.
‘I don’t think anybody ever walks into Jerry’s office and says, ‘You’ve got to do X.’ I don’t think that’s gonna work,’ he said.
‘Jerry (Jones) has obviously dug his heels in and it doesn’t appear that anything’s gonna change. I have heard people say, well can’t you put a curtain up? I suppose you can, but it’s my understanding it’s a lot like the roof. If you open the roof or if you put a curtain down, it has to stay that way through the entire game.
‘It seems like it would be relatively easy to fix. But I also know that it would affect, I guess the aesthetics of the stadium and that’s not what Jerry wants. It appears that it’s going to be something that continues in these late-window games. Fortunately we won’t be dealing with that Monday night.’
Troy Aikman on Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy
The Cowboys declined to extend McCarthy, their head coach, during the offseason. Now, he may be on the hot seat as he plays out the final year of his contract after a 3-6 start to the 2024 season. If a change is coming at head coach, it will be after the season ends, since Jones has already said he won’t be making a midseason change.
When asked about McCarthy, Aikman said that the lack of empowerment the team gave the head coach – with the lack of an extension and without the power to make personnel decisions – could be affecting how the players see him.
‘I’ve never been in a locker room like that. I’ve not been on a team where the head coach has been on his last year of his contract. I’d like to think that that doesn’t affect how the players react or what they’re thinking, what motivates them to go out and play at the level that’s required,’ Aikman said. ‘I’d like to think that that’s not an issue. Is it? I don’t know.’
In Aikman’s eyes, there has been too much conversation about the Cowboys’ dealings off the field rather than their performance on it, all of which makes McCarthy’s job more difficult.
From Lamb’s contract extension negotiations, to quarterback Dak Prescott’s, to Jones’ ‘all in’ comments backed by a lackluster free agency, there has certainly been plenty to discuss in Dallas. The latest issue regarding the sunlight and its glare was just another example of an unnecessary distraction.