NFL Moves Broncos-Patriots Game to Monday, Bills-Titans to Tuesday

The NFL has made schedule changes to Week 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots game has been moved to Monday, Oct. 12 at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN, and the Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans game has been moved to Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. ET on CBS. This means the NFL will once again have two games on Monday night as the Los Angeles Chargers vs. New Orleans Saints game will start at 8:15 p.m ET on ESPN. If the Bills-Titans game is played on Tuesday, the Bills’ Week 6 game against the Kansas City Chiefs — initially scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15 — will be moved to Sunday.

The Patriots and Titans have been dealing with positive COVID-19 tests over the past week, but the good news is both teams reported no new positive tests on Friday, according to the NFL Network. Last week, the Titans were forced the close their facilities due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Ther have been a total of 23 members fo the Titans – 13 players and 10 personnel – who have contracted the virus. The team missed their Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers as it was postponed. It will be played on Sunday, Oct. 25.

“Our guys prepared for the season, they want to play,” Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said on the team’s official website. “I know they are anxious to get back, to get out on the practice field, and to continue to play games. And to compete against a very good Buffalo team that is 4-0. … We know the challenge, and that is where our focus is.”

Last Saturday, Patriots quarterback Cam Newton tested positive for COVID-19, which led to their game against the Kansas City Chiefs being moved from Sunday to Monday. A few days later, Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore contracted the virus.

“I feel like we did everything that we could control,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said on the team’s official website when talking about traveling to Kansas City on Monday. “I think we did everything properly with the extra plane, the extra busses, the same day travel, etcetera, etcetera. There’s multiple things we could list there. In terms of a lot of individual-specific questions, I’d say all those get thrown into the general medical field.”