'Elevation 5280'': Altitude room among ways Browns prepare for mile high Denver air

DENVER — The question about playing a road game in Denver was clearly phrased to get Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to say a specific thing. Even Stefanski, whose team plays there Monday night against the Broncos, knew what was expected from him.

“Are you trying to get me to say altitude?" Stefanski said.

There is no one place in the NFL where there exists a consistently distinct environmental impact quite like what exists in Denver. It's right there in the city's nickname, the Mile High City.

Not only that, but the Broncos make sure you know you're playing at a mile high altitude. "Elevation 5280'" is posted on the wall in the corners of Empower Field at Mile High, while painted on the wall right outside the visitors' locker room on the service level is "Welcome to Denver, CO the MILE HIGH CITY. ELEVATION 5280' ABOVE SEA LEVEL."

Subtle, right? But also real, even for someone who spent four seasons playing in Denver.

"It is pretty challenging, just because the altitude, like you said," wide receiver Jerry Jeudy said. "It's kind of hard to breathe but that shouldn't stop us. Just make sure we staying on the conditioning, stay on top of our conditioning, and we'll be straight. We'll be fine."

Cornerback Greg Newsome II was on the opposite end of the spectrum when the Browns went to Denver on Thanksgiving weekend last year. The sixth Browns defensive play of the game, he had to run after Denver wide receiver Courtland Sutton, a play on which he was flagged for pass interference.

"When I was up there, after the first play, it was tough," Newsome said. "I got a deep ball right away, so it was kind of tough to get my breath back. So this year I'm definitely going to prepare a little bit harder for the altitude."

Sure, you can get extreme heat and humidity playing in one of the three Florida cities. You can get feet of snow in places like Buffalo, Green Bay and, as was seen this last home game, Cleveland.

Those are weather patterns, though. The altitude a city sits at doesn't.

The Browns traveled to Denver on Saturday afternoon for Monday night's game. That's a day earlier than they typically travel for most non-Pacific Time Zone games.

Before the Browns departed for Denver, they did have one thing they were banking on as a potential game-changer for their preparations. The organization built an "altitude room" inside of their Berea facility, a room where the atmosphere inside it can be adjusted to deal with just such trip as the one they have to Denver.

"I think it's important when you're going out there, you want to get a feel and see how you react when you out there because nothing can really simulate it," quarterback Jameis Winston said. "But what the Cleveland Browns have done for us, man, we have an altitude room in house, so I'm going to be encouraging all my teammates to use the altitude room. I know I got my work in yesterday and I'm probably going to get some more in throughout the week. So just taking all the resources that this organization allows us to have and making the most of it."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ