The Broncos announced Friday that they won’t have any fans in attendance when they host the Titans on Monday Night Football in Week 1.
It’s disappointing but not a surprising development as the team prepares to play a season during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re going to miss our fans . . . . they’ve given us a great boost and advantage at home,” coach Vic Fangio said. “We love playing in front of them. There’s a love affair between the fans and the players and the team. We’re going to miss it.
“Hopefully at some point here we can keep doing the job with the COVID that we’re doing in the NFL and eventually get some fans in there hopefully.”
Denver remains optimistic about potentially hosting a limited number of fans at home games later in the season. Broncos right tackle Elijah Wilkinson said it’s “definitely a bummer” to not have fans in Week 1 but he noted that the team will need to play well regardless.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect us at all,” Wilkinson said. “Whether there’s no fans, no noise or whatever. We’re coming to play some football — we’re coming to win games. I don’t think fans are really going to make an impact on that, but it’s definitely nice to have them.”
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