Jerry Jones refuses to admit that the sun issue, which the Cowboys can mitigate, is bothersome to his players.

The Dallas Cowboys were facing a familiar foe on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.

It was an opponent known to cause issues for them multiple times a year, one that unbelievably has gotten the better of them more often that we would like to admit.

I am of course talking not about the Philadelphia Eagles, but the sun. Yes, the sun. As in what our planet rotates around.

You are likely aware that during afternoon games in the palace that Jerry Jones built that the glare caused by the sun’s shine through the glass can be hazardous and visually distracting. Given that eyesight is an important thing when playing professional football this has often reared its ugly head for the home team.

Many different people have brought the sun up to Jerry Jones himself and he has refused to acknowledge it as an issue despite players going on record about it. AT&T Stadium infamously puts curtains up for non-Cowboys events which calls into question why the Cowboys themselves cannot use these since, you know, they are kind of necessary.

Sunday’s game saw the sun impact both the Cowboys and Eagles and was such a distraction that the CBS broadcast even discussed it. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo even discussed CeeDee Lamb seemingly losing a would-be touchdown catch while staring at it, so obviously Jerry Jones was asked about the issue after the game.

Per The Athletic’s Jon Machota:

“By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we decide to flip the coin or not. We do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium.”

…

“Well let’s tear the damn stadium down and build another one? Are you kidding me?

“Everybody has got the same thing. Every team that comes in here has the same issues.

“I’m saying, the world knows where the sun is. You get to know that almost a year in advance. Someone asked me about the sun. What about the sun? Where’s the moon?”

There is a lot to unpack here, but I will do my best and go in order of the comments themselves.

Is Jerry saying that the Cowboys are literally game-planning around the sun? As in trying to line themselves up with it? That is how I read the first line, but it doesn’t necessarily make sense given that teams flip sides of the field. What’s more is that what if you were say planning on having the sun at your back in certain quarters, but the other ones saw you making redzone trips more? It is ridiculous to even think about this out loud like this, but here we are.

Reaching the point of “let’s tear the damn stadium down” is the ultimate sign of knowing how wrong he is here. Whether or not somebody legitimately made a mistake when building AT&T Stadium the reality is that this is an objective issue that players are on record as having a problem with as noted. By making such a silly proclamation Jerry is almost pouting about it existing. Admitting it is a problem would be a good first step.

Even if you want to say “everybody has to deal with it” as some sort of defense, only one team has to deal with it eight or nine times in a given season. Again, we are way too far down the rabbit hole with this.

I’ll admit that I don’t know exactly where Jerry is going with knowing a year in advance on all of this. It seems as if he is just saying anything he can to avoid admitting the truth here.

CeeDee Lamb himself said Sunday night that the sun is an issue and that he wants curtains put up

Maybe you don’t find the sun to be something that is an issue or something that should be a part of discussion. It is admittedly a very silly thing. But it is seemingly an issue for the players which is why this keeps coming up.

You can actually take out the word “seemingly” now, though. CeeDee Lamb was asked about this after the game and removed any doubt that the sun inhibited his ability to see the ball that he could have caught for a touchdown. He also said he “one thousand percent” wants the team to put curtains up.

Think about this in an objective way at this moment.

CeeDee Lamb, one of the best and most important players on the team who was handsomely paid by the organization to be that person, has now literally gone on record to voice his frustrations about the issue. To be clear the sun is not why the Cowboys lost 34-6 or why they are 3-6 or why they have a drought the length that they do, nobody is saying that.

The point here is that this issue – call it whatever you want – is a controllable one that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys can correct with one decision and they refuse to do so. If any player is saying that this could help them, let alone CeeDee Lamb, by not doing so you are purposefully hindering their ability to help the team win football games.

It is unbelievable.