ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos closed their headquarters and canceled their day-before-game walkthrough practice Friday after learning strength and conditioning Loren Landow had tested positive for COVID-19.
Landow, more than any other Broncos coach, works closely with each player on a daily basis as he trains the team pre-and post-practice. In this case, “closely” means at a social distance as his contact tracing came up clean – no high-risk, close contacts were determined.
The Broncos will play the Buffalo Bills on Saturday as scheduled at Empower Field at Mile High with kickoff at 2:30 p.m. MST. The Broncos are 5-8 and 6-point home underdogs to the 10-3 Bills.
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“I was surprised this morning to learn that I tested positive for COVID-19,’’ Landow stated on his Twitter account. “I feel great with no symptoms following all guidelines of our medical staff. Gonna hurt not being out tomorrow and I can’t wait to get back to work!”
Broncos COVID control officer and longtime head trainer Steve “Greek” Antonopulos learned around 3:30 a.m. Friday that Landow had an unconfirmed positive test. There was a delay with the lab work in Houston, but at 8:30 a.m., Landow’s positive test was confirmed.
Because there were no high-risk, close contacts, the league was going to allow the Broncos to carry on with their walkthrough Friday. However, Fangio arranged for a Zoom meeting with his players at 8:45 a.m. and informed them the walkthrough was cancelled and the building would be closed. There were virtual team meetings as scheduled and the team will gather at a local hotel this evening for more meetings and a good night’s sleep.
The Broncos have shut down their building and cancelled practice at least three other times this season. Landow is a graduate of Westminster High School and Northern Colorado who had a thriving private practice as a sports performance coach for many elite athletes before he was hired as the Broncos' strength and conditioning coordinator prior to the 2018 season.
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