Shelby Harris’ family -- his pregnant wife and three children -- tested positive for COVID-19 before he did, putting him on the reserve list as a close contact. The Broncos defensive end temporarily moved to a hotel, but on the week of Nov. 9, Harris tested positive.
He missed four games total.
“I’m telling you, that stuff was just crazy,” Harris said, via Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press. “I’m just happy to be back and happy to be healthy, like really, truly happy to be healthy.”
The Broncos removed Harris from the COVID-19 list this week, and he will return to action Sunday against the Chiefs.
In seven games, he has 23 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
“There’s no way I’m ready to play 60, 70, 80 snaps because that’s impossible,” Harris said. “I’ve been out four weeks.”
Harris’ wife was more ill than Harris was, but he had chills and cold sweats initially and worse aftereffects.
“I just didn’t feel right,” Harris said. “It was just weird. It was the weird nerve pain. For me, that was crazy. The only reason I say all this stuff is because we don’t know much about COVID. We need to be open about the experiences we have because more than likely people have been going through things that they may not realize are associated with COVID.”
Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell was hospitalized with respiratory issues last month, and eight players, three other assistant coaches and two executives also tested positive, per Stapleton. Three quarterbacks were sidelined last week because of high-risk close contact with Jeff Driskell.