Denver Broncos Suffer a Blow Ahead of Their New England Patriots Matchup
Through no fault of their own, the Denver Broncos had an unexpected bye week after practicing all week to face the New England Patriots. The Broncos are now set to face the Patriots on Sunday after the game was rescheduled twice because of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Now, through the fault of one of their top players, the Broncos are in the news for all the wrong reasons.
COVID-19 causing chaos in the NFL
The New England Patriots were supposed to host the Denver Broncos in Week 5. Four days after Patriots quarterback Cam Newton tested positive for COVID-19, the virus struck again in New England. Last Tuesday, cornerback Stephon Gilmore also tested positive, pushing the New England/Denver game to Monday night.
On Sunday, a fourth Patriots player tested positive and New England’s facility was shut down. The game now is rescheduled for Sunday. The Patriots already had their Week 4 game against the Kansas City Chiefs pushed back from Sunday to Monday after Newton’s positive diagnosis.
The Tennessee Titans game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, originally scheduled for Week 4, was also moved. The Titans suffered an outbreak of COVID-19 with as many as 24 members of the franchise testing positive. Their game was pushed back until later in the season and both the Titans and Steelers were forced to take their bye week during Week 4.
The Broncos weren’t too happy with the rescheduling of the game
The Denver Broncos, a team that hasn’t encountered any positive COVID-19 tests, practiced all week in preparation for their Week 5 game against the New England Patriots. The game initially got pushed back to Monday night, but then was postponed to Week 6 after another positive COVID-19 case was discovered in New England. The move forced the Broncos to push up their bye week to Week 5 instead of Week 8.
Some members of the Broncos weren’t too happy with the reshuffling of the schedule. Running back Melvin Gordon shared his thoughts on social media. He felt it was unfair that the team practiced all week, only to have the league declare that week their off week. “Ain’t no way we practiced all week and they canceled our game.” Gordon tweeted.
Gordon wasn’t the only Denver player to voice his displeasure. Defensive end Shelby Harris was upset when the game was originally moved from Sunday to Monday. On Twitter, Harris wrote, “Why are we getting punished when we did nothing wrong. Pats go on a bye next week and we are stuck on a short week playing the Dolphins. Help it make sense.”
Melvin Gordon cited Tuesday for DUI
Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon has a little more to worry about other than losing his bye week. On Tuesday, Gordon was cited by Denver police for driving under the influence, according to Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo! Sports also said Gordon was ticketed for driving between 25 and 39 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Gordon is coming off his best game of the 2020 season. In a Thursday night game in Week 4 against the New York Jets, he rushed for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He isn’t expected to be arraigned until Nov. 13. Gordon, in addition to his legal issues, could face punishment by the NFL.
The Broncos issued a statement regarding the issue. “We are aware of the situation involving Melvin Gordon,” the Broncos said in the statement. “Our organization has been in communication with him and is in the process of gathering more details.”
