CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Browns first playoff game in 18 years will be played with their head coach in Kevin Stefanski and their longest-tenured player in Pro Bowler Joel Bitonio sitting at home watching on television along with other coaches and players who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Stefanski, Bitonio, tight ends coach Drew Petzing, defensive backs coach Jeff Howard and receiver KhaDarel Hodge all tested positive for the virus on Tuesday and won’t be able to participate in the Wildcard Playoff game against the Steelers on Sunday night. They join six other Browns players and three other coaches who are already in COVID-19 isolation and iffy for the game.
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will serve as the acting head coach, marking the second time he’s coached a NFL game. He was pressed into service with the Vikings in 2016 when Mike Zimmer underwent emergency eye surgery, and lost 17-15 to a Cowboys team that finished 13-3.
Stefanski is currently asymptomatic and will continue to work virtually from home to prepare for the game. He’s feeling fine and plans to be involved in all of the gameplanning throughout the week. But from kickoff until the end of the game, he will be permitted no contact with anyone at FirstEnergy Stadium, per a longstanding NFL policy.
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who called play for the Bills in 2009 and also serves as quarterbacks coach here, will handle the playcalling duties Sunday night. Bitonio, who hasn’t missed a snap since 2016, will likely be replaced by first-year guard Michael Dunn, or sixth-year pro Kendall Lamm, who missed last week with an illness.
“I talked to Joel quite a bit today,’' center JC Tretter, the NFLPA president, said on a conference call Tuesday. “I feel for him. obviously with what he’s gone through, what he’s endured over his career and finally finding that success for the first time and then it being taken away at the last second, where he won’t be able to be out there on Sunday, it’s hard and I feel for him.
“I feel for all the guys that won’t be able to play for the first playoff game. and it is extremely difficult, extremely tough. it’s tough because he, first off, loves playing football, loves the Cleveland Browns and this is just a terrible scenario for him and for everybody involved. I obviously feel for Joel, I’ve been close to Joel since getting here in Cleveland.’'
Tretter, who’s worked tirelessly all season to keep NFL players safe, also feels for coach Kevin Stefanski.
“He’s done an incredible job as a first-time, first-year head coach stepping in and leading us into the playoffs,’' he said. “So another huge loss for us, and I feel for him as a person and as a leader not being able to be out there with us and go into battle. It’s just very sad. Very sad and it’s really unfortunate.’'
The other coaches already isolating because of COVID-19 protocols are offensive line coach Bill Callahan, receivers coach Chad O’Shea and assistant offensive line coach Scott Peters. Callahan tested positive on Saturday and will also likely have to sit out the game. O’Shea tested positive last Wednesday and might be back in time.
The players who were already on the list before Tuesday’s outbreak are cornerback Denzel Ward, B.J. Goodson, Andrew Sendejo, Malcolm Smith, Kevin Johnson and Harrison Bryant. Ward, Bryant and Smith tested positive on Thursday and will be cutting it close to return, but they at least have a chance based on the minimum 10-day isolation period and the fact the game is Sunday.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told cleveland.com the game is still on for 8:30 Sunday night because the positive tests are all believed to be from community spread and not from inside the facility.
The NFL believes that there’s no risk of further transmission inside their building, although NFLPA President and Browns starting center J.C. Tretter said on a conference call today that the powers that be are still investigating this new batch of positives.
The NFL and its partner conducted genomic sequencing on the positive cases from last week and there were three different strains of the virus among the players and personnel. These new cases from Tuesday will undergo the same treatment.
The Browns facility is closed while contact tracing is underway, and Tretter said he expects the building to remain closed on Wednesday. More players and coaches could be added to the COVID-19 reserve list by the end of the day Tuesday as close contacts, but they will be able to participate in the game because they only have to isolate for five days.
The positive tests come at the worst possible time for the Browns, who clinched a playoff berth Sunday for the first time in 18 years with their 24-22 victory over the Steelers.
The Browns (11-5) haven’t played in a playoff game since their 36-33 loss to the Steelers in the Wildcard round on Jan. 5, 2003.
It’s particularly unfortunate for Bitonio, because he’s one of the few players who lived through 0-16 and has been waiting for this moment since 2014. Bitonio, a three-time Pro Bowler and the Browns’ best offensive lineman, hasn’t missed an offensive snap since 2016.
After the Browns clinched on Sunday night, Stefanski handed the ball to Bitonio in the locker room and let him say a few words to the team.
“I just appreciate everybody in the room and the work that they put in from the top down, just working to change the culture here,’' Bitonio said on his Zoom call afterwards. “There was a culture of losing and a culture of not being able to finish some of the games that we have been in. I just appreciate everybody and hopefully we are setting the stage for a winning culture in Cleveland for a long time.”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had a brief encounter with his former Vikings colleague Stefanski on the field Sunday, but Tomlin is in the clear after contact tracing, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.
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