Here’s something you might not know the Browns have at their ever-expanding training facility in Berea:
Not far from the changing rooms is an altitude room. This is not an attitude room where players can go and talk to a psychiatrist to get their minds straight. It’s an altitude room to get their bodies used to playing in a different atmosphere, as they will on Dec. 2 when they meet the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver in a nationally televised game “Monday Night Football.”
The altitude room mimics the rarefied air of Colorado, or whatever the conditions are. If they need to play a game in hot, humid weather, the altitude room can be adjusted to mimic those conditions.
The Browns will leave Cleveland for Denver on Nov. 30 — two days earlier than usual a day early — so players can adjust to the time change and breathe the air at 5,280 feet above the level of the sea. But that will not be enough for some of them.
A little over a year ago, on November 26, 2023, to be precise, the Browns won three straight in Denver and got crushed 29-12. They were scheduled to play the Rams a week later, so instead of returning to Cleveland, they took a chartered plane to Los Angeles and spent the week in Los Angeles.
Jameis Winston says fans have embraced him and he’d like to return to #Browns next season as he also embraced the Cleveland community. pic.twitter.com/MkYbuZUBM2
– Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 27, 2024
Staying in the West didn’t help. The Rams won 36-19 in Joe Flacco’s first start as Browns quarterback.
“We’re preparing our body a little bit more for that acclimation and everything else,” cornerback Greg Newsome said Nov. 27 in the Browns locker room. “Last year I was super, super tired.
“The first year you go there, you don’t expect it to be that bad. How bad can it be? But it was. So this year I’m definitely going to the altitude room, so we’ll all be good to go.
Cornerback Greg Newsome spends time in the #Browns altitude gym in Berea preparing to face the #Broncos Monday night because he was “super, super tired” playing in Denver last year. pic.twitter.com/HghIRejrt0
– Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 27, 2024
Newsome has to be ready to run because Broncos quarterback Bo Nix likes to throw the ball deep and likes to spread it around. Nine different Denver players have at least one touchdown. Newsome, who usually covers slot receiver, will likely cover Troy Franklin (19 catches, 190 yards, two touchdowns) or Lil’Jordan Humphrey (29/267/1).
“(Nix) played amazing,” Newsome said. “From the middle of the season until now, he’s looked very, very elite. Over the last (six) weeks, he’s thrown just one interception and a bunch (11) of touchdowns. He’s top three in completion percentage (68.7) as of Week 7.”
Jameis Winston was a backup quarterback with the Saints in 2020 and faced the Broncos in Denver for the only time in his career. He took three snaps without throwing a pass to replace Drew Brees in a game the Saints won 31-3.
“My cause, my crampons” is a program sponsored by the #NFL. Players wear personalized cleats during a game to draw attention to a cause they are passionate about. Here are the crampons #Browns players and coaches will wear Monday night in Denver when they play the #Broncos. pic.twitter.com/OYHgGjVFNS
– Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 27, 2024
“It’s important when you go out there, you want to get a feel and see how you react when you’re out there because nothing can really simulate that,” Winston said. “But what the Cleveland Browns have done for us, we have an in-house altitude room.
“We have treadmills, we have AssaultBikes, we have skiing. No pun intended, we don’t know how to ski, but the little trick of skiing. You close (the room) and it basically simulates altitude. So I will encourage all my teammates to use the altitude room.
Running back Nick Chubb hasn’t played in Denver since he was a rookie in 2018. He rushed 20 times for 100 yards in a game the Browns won 17-16.
“For the most part (the altitude) has never affected me, knock on wood,” Chubb said. “But it’s definitely a cool environment to play in.”
Chubb was on injured reserve, recovering from two knee surgeries when the Browns and Broncos played in Denver last year.
Browns at Broncos
When: 8:15 p.m., December 2
Where: Empower Field at Mile High, Denver
Records: Browns 3-8, Broncos 7-5
Television: WOIO, ESPN
Radio: WKRK-FM 92.3, WNCX-FM 98.5, WKNR-AM 850, WKKY-FM 104.7
