NFL rejected bids by Rams, Chiefs to play Week 10 in Denver ahead of Mexico trip

The Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs both requested to play in Denver the week before their Week 11 game at altitude in Mexico City, but the NFL rejected both requests, sources tell ESPN.

The NFL did not want to give either the Rams or the Chiefs an advantage by giving them an additional week to play at altitude in Denver, according to sources.

Now the Rams, who endured a difficult two-day stretch last week, will spend the upcoming week training at altitude in Colorado Springs before traveling to Mexico City for their Monday night showdown on Nov. 19 against the Chiefs.

The Rams will practice at the Air Force Academy after their game Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, but their travel plans could be affected by the recent events in California.

Rams players awakened Thursday to the news that an overnight mass shooting that left 13 people dead in Thousand Oaks, California, a mere four miles north of the team's Cal Lutheran University practice facility.

Rams executives spent the morning trying to track down information about the victims, worrying if any of their employees were at the bar where the shooting occurred. The team ultimately learned that no team personnel was at the Borderline Bar & Grill. The Rams will have a moment of silence to honor the victims before Sunday's game against the Seahawks.

The day after the shooting, the Rams evacuated at least 100 of their employees in the middle of the night when a raging wildfire spread through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, outside Thousand Oaks, where many of the team's coaches and employees live.

Police said bodies were located "in vehicles that were overcome" by the fire and classes at Cal Lutheran University were canceled.

The Rams were comforted by the fact that none of their employees' homes appeared to be in danger, although there still is significant concern.

"It's been a 36 hours unlike any other," one Rams official said this weekend.

The Rams were scheduled to leave Los Angeles for Colorado Springs on Monday afternoon so the team could train at altitude to better prepare for the next week's game in Mexico City's altitude.

But with their employees displaced by the wildfire, and with concern for their homes there, the Rams still are trying to figure out whether they need to push back their departure.