CLEVELAND — Editor’s note: the video in the player above is from Dec. 27, 2020.
The temporary closing of the Browns facility came as the result of one player and one staff member testing positive for the coronavirus. In a Zoom call with reporters, Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski revealed that it was a member of his coaching staff, as well as a member of the team’s practice squad, who tested positive for the virus.
Contact tracing has been completed and we have been cleared to reopen our facility.
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) December 30, 2020
Five of the players — wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge, as well as linebacker Jacob Phillips — who missed Sunday’s game, however, will be eligible to return to the Browns on Thursday should they continue to test negative for the coronavirus. With a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Cleveland would end the NFL’s longest active postseason drought (17 years), while a tie or loss would leave the Browns needing help elsewhere in the NFL in order to clinch a postseason spot.