ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton had surgery Nov. 7 to remove a tumor after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. Wednesday, just 19 days after that procedure, the 31-year-old veteran was back on the practice field.
What’s more? Singleton expects to be on the field as the Broncos try to extend their eight-game winning streak Sunday night against the Washington Commanders.
“We’re tracking that way,” the linebacker said with a smile after Wednesday’s practice.
It was the latest encouraging development in a whirlwind month for the beloved team captain. It began when he was notified Oct. 27, one day after making 11 tackles and forcing a fumble in a win against the Dallas Cowboys, that the random drug test he had taken as part of the NFL’s testing protocol had revealed elevated levels of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). Singleton was stunned. After diving down a Google rabbit hole, he surmised the result could only occur if he had injected a performance-enhancing drug or had testicular cancer.
“I was like, ‘Well, neither of those makes sense for me,’” Singleton said during an interview with “Good Morning America” this week. Singleton spent the week of preparation for a Nov. 2 road game against the Houston Texans with a cloud of confusion swirling in his head. At his wife’s urging, Singleton signed up for an appointment with a urologist for the Monday after the game. An ultrasound was ordered. The diagnosis came quickly. The linebacker indeed had testicular cancer.
Surgery to remove the tumor was scheduled for Friday, one day after Singleton played all 60 snaps in a win against the Las Vegas Raiders. Singleton missed the following game against the Kansas City Chiefs, but he was heavily involved in team meetings leading up to that game, sessions that came just days after his operation. He wore an earpiece during the game so he could hear the defensive calls and was the first to greet members of his position group with encouragement as they came off the field. At one point, he gave a light headbutt to rookie Jordan Turner.
“I just love these guys,” Singleton said. “I love this team and this organization, and I love this game. So if it was my last game, what I want to do when I’m done is coach anyway, so let’s start now. … All you want is to see your guys shine.”
Doubts about his career came rushing for Singleton when he received his diagnosis three days before the Raiders game. A full picture of what he was dealing with wouldn’t come until after surgery and the pathology results to follow. So Singleton channeled all of his thoughts and emotions into playing against Las Vegas. He finished with nine tackles in a 10-7 win.
“The one thing I wanted to do was play that game,” Singleton said Wednesday. “Because if it was (the last game), I wanted to go out on my own terms.”
After successful surgery and encouraging follow-up tests, the focus shifted toward a quick return to the field, even as teammates were still grappling with the news he had shared with them during a team meeting a few days after that Raiders game.
“He just got up in the team meeting and said, ‘I’ve got cancer,’” said defensive lineman Malcolm Roach, who signed a three-year extension with the Broncos on Wednesday. “We’re like, ‘What? You’ve got cancer? You were just on the field with us Thursday night.’ He told us that he just had surgery and everything went good. He said, ‘I’m gonna be back after the bye week.’ We were like, ‘OK.’ Man, he really was back after the bye week.”
Roach said he calls Singleton “Jon Snow” because of the linebacker’s ability to bounce back like the famous “Game of Thrones” character. Singleton played in all of a Week 3 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season with a torn ACL. He returned to practice in training camp back in August, the same week he suffered a broken thumb. And now he is in line to play in a game less than four weeks after a cancer diagnosis shook his world.
Singleton is not the only captain on the Denver defense who made an anticipated return to the field Wednesday. Pat Surtain II, who suffered a pectoral strain during that win against the Cowboys and has missed the past three games, practiced in a limited fashion for the first time since the injury. Broncos coach Sean Payton said the game against the Commanders has been a “target” for Surtain and Singleton. Jonah Elliss, who missed the victory against the Chiefs with a hamstring injury, was also listed as a limited participant.
In other injury news, Payton said he still expects inside linebacker Drew Sanders, who has been on injured reserve all season with a foot injury, to return at some point this season, though he emphasized it won’t be soon. He also left the door open for running back J.K. Dobbins, who had surgery two weeks ago to repair his own foot injury, to be back at some point, too.