ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- In an emotional team meeting Monday morning, Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton told his teammates and coaches that he had surgery Friday to remove a cancerous tumor removed from one his testicles, something only his family and a few of his closest friends and team officials knew.
"Cancer is a scary word, still is, still freaks me out just saying it,'' Singleton said Monday on a call with local reporters.
He had earlier announced the news in a statement posted to social media.
I shared this news with our team this morning.
— Alex Singleton (@alexsingleton49) November 10, 2025
I'm grateful for everyone's support and can't wait to get back on the field soon!
Go Broncos! pic.twitter.com/6qge5tPirn
Singleton, 31, said a league-mandated random drug test on the Wednesday before the Broncos' Nov. 2 game against the Houston Texans revealed he had elevated levels of the hormone hcG in his system.
Singleton said "knowing I wasn't taking hcG'' he made an appointment with a urologist and underwent several tests, including CT and ultrasound scans, and received notice last Monday a tumor on his testicle was cancerous. Surgery was then scheduled for Friday.
But Singleton said he told his doctors he wanted to play in Thursday night's game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Singleton added that only a few of his teammates and Broncos officials and coaches knew of his diagnosis and impending surgery as the team went through its preparations last week.
He made nine tackles in the Broncos' 10-7 victory.
A smiling Singleton happily answered questions in the locker room Thursday night after the Broncos had improved to 8-2 with the win and gave no indication he would have surgery the next day. Singleton had played over three quarters of a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season with a torn ACL.
"A couple them knew before surgery, going into the week,'' Singleton said. "... They care so much about my health ... it means a lot.''
Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad said, "[We'll] be there for him, continue the fight with him ... I'm just glad everyone is here to support him. Doesn't surprise me [he played Thursday] ... ultimate competitor, ultimate team player. He's going to overcome it and we're all going to be here for him.''
Singleton said Monday his full post-surgery schedule is still to be determined by his doctors, but that he would initially be tested weekly to make sure the hcG is out of his system and that he expects to hear the full pathology report on the tumor in the coming days. He added a CT scan he had before the surgery revealed the cancer "had not spread anywhere else, which is obviously a great sign.''
The Broncos' leader in tackles this season with 89, Singleton said he will miss Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, but did not yet know how many, if any, additional games he will miss. The Broncos have a bye week following the Chiefs game.
"I'm not giving an exact timetable yet, but I should recover pretty quickly from this surgery and get up and running here pretty soon,'' Singleton said. "... I was able to not have as invasive of surgery ... It feels good that optimistically, it's not going to be four, five, six weeks, thankfully.''
Singleton said he spent the weekend with his wife Sam and 9-month old daughter -- "a lot of time sitting on the couch ... going through the emotions of the whole thing'' -- and as the player who is often seen sporting a "positive vibes only'' sweatshirt as he moves through his days around the Broncos' facility, he said he's concentrating on a positive mindset.
Singleton added that, in the future, he will be a vocal advocate for people to be screened for testicular cancer and other medical check-ups.
"I want to be so forthcoming with you guys and kind of the world about it, to know that talking about it and being an advocate for the screenings is just so important,'' Singleton said. "... I'm going to continue to talk about it, sharing it ... knowing there shouldn't be a big stigma behind it, there's nothing wrong with it. I'm learning more every day ... [But] don't be afraid of the doctor, I was for a long time.''