When the Houston Texans host the New York Giants in a preseason game on Saturday afternoon at NRG Stadium, they will be doing so under a damaged roof.
The roof at NRG Stadium was damaged when Hurricane Beryl barreled through Houston tearing away several panels and leaving some areas exposed.
The ripped roof at #NRGStadium for today's #Giants100 at @HoustonTexans preseason game pic.twitter.com/FEra8sUjt2
— GiantsWFAN (@giantswfan) August 17, 2024
The temperatures in Houston are expected to be near triple digits on Saturday. The roof will be closed but the missing panels will surely be making it difficult to keep temperatures down.
The roof is scheduled to be repaired in September but in the interim, the fans and players will be exposed to some outside weather conditions, reports NBC Sports.
“The studies on that are ongoing, and we’ll learn more as we kind of work through it,” Texans owner Cal McNair said at the start of training camp, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “There are several panels that were damaged. These things aren’t on your local shelf at the do-it-yourself Home Depot. Wonderful stores that are around. They’re special-ordered, specially made, so it’ll take a while. We’re hopeful that we’ll get them about a month into the season.”
The heat will certainly play a role in how teams manage the snaps in this game. Avoiding heat exhaustion is a top priority among NFL teams and it will be a challenge on Saturday.