Broncos Place Starting Center Lloyd Cushenberry on Reserve/COVID List

On Thursday, the Denver Broncos announced that starting center Lloyd Cushenberry III has been placed on the reserve/COVID list. With the team's starting center likely set to miss the first game of his career, Cushenberry's absence will leave a gaping hole on the Broncos' offensive line.

The NFL has been hammered with positive COVID results at the player level, coaches, and various team personnel in recent weeks. Last-minute replacements and backup players have been thrown into the mix as a result of the second straight year of enduring the pandemic.

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The Broncos selected Cushenberry out of LSU in the third round of the 2020 draft and he was immediately thrust into a starting position, playing all 1,100 offensive snaps through 16 games. This season, ‘Cush’ has remained a consistent player, playing all 925 offensive snaps in the 14 regular-season games played thus far.

The 6-foot-3, 312-pound center had a tough rookie season adjusting to the physicality and demands of an NFL center but showed significant improvement last offseason and in training camp. Cushenberry was previously vaccinated and could potentially test out of COVID protocols before Sunday.

9NEWS' Mike Klis hinted at the third-year Austin Schlottmann getting the starting nod in place of Cushenberry this week against the Las Vegas Raiders. At 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, Schlottmann went undrafted in 2018 and signed with the Broncos where he was reunited with high school teammate Courtland Sutton.

Schlottmann has played in 39 games with four career starts since arriving in Denver but if called upon, Sunday would be his first start in the 2021 season. There’s also a possibility that starting right guard Quinn Meinerz could slide over to the center position for the Week 15 matchup in Las Vegas.

The 23-year-old Quinn was selected in the third round of last year’s draft and competed with Cushenberry and Schlottman in training camp at center. A former Division III standout from Wisconsin-Whitewater, the 6-foot-3, 320-pound Meinerz taught himself the center position last offseason and has taken limited snaps as a center in practice.

Meinerz was thrust into the starting right guard position after veteran Graham Glasgow suffered a season-ending ankle injury against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9. Klis also revealed that the Broncos have had 15 players go on the COVID list in the last two months.

There’s no doubt that losing the starting center couldn’t have come at a worse time. How will it affect Drew Lock's first start of the 2021 season? Time will tell.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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