Dre

Greenlaw

Greenlaw suffered a torn Achilles in the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs. The veteran linebacker said the recovery is “a long, slow process” and that he’s currently working on getting his strength and mobility back. The 49ers signed veteran linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to help mitigate the loss of Greenlaw, who totaled 120 tackles and five TFLs for them last season, and Campbell is expected to see a significant number of snaps early in the season. We’ll likely know more on Greenlaw’s readiness as training camp approaches, but given the lengthy recovery time that comes with his injury, he’ll most likely open the season on injured reserve.

26-year-old Greenlaw remained one of the 49ers’ defensive linchpins in 2023 before his freak Super Bowl injury running onto the field against the Chiefs. Greenlaw had previously battled Achilles issues in 2023. Greenlaw has no guaranteed money remaining on his contract, but injury guarantees should cover for his $8.1 million salary for 2024. The former fifth-round pick turns 27 in May. He will be highly questionable for Week 1, though we can continue to see condensed Achilles return timelines.

In a freak scene, Greenlaw buckled into a heap simply running onto the field in the second quarter. Although technically “questionable,” there seems to be almost no chance Greenlaw returns after what appeared to be an Achilles injury. Insane. One of the Niners’ most important defenders, 26-year-old Greenlaw dealt with Achilles issues earlier this season.

Greenlaw made a hard-hitting tackle on Lions tight end Sam LaPorta in the second quarter of the team’s Conference Championship game and was in obvious pain as he retreated to the sideline. It appeared to be a shoulder or collar bone injury that occurred on a textbook tackle of the towering rookie tight end. Further update will be passed by the team as the game progresses but it did not look good at full speed.

The player who carried the most concern heading into the week was Deebo Samuel (shoulder), who logged a full practice on Friday and was removed from the injury report. The 49ers enter Sunday’s game with a roster that’s near 100 percent as far as health is concerned and should be good to go against the Lions. Arik Armstead (foot/knee) and LB Dre Greenlaw (Achilles) were full participants in practice throughout the week despite dealing with minor injuries.

Close to an every-snap player this season, Greenlaw sat in Week 18. He was the only injury question mark for this surprisingly healthy team. Inactive for the 49ers are QB Brandon Allen, LB Jalen Graham, OL Matt Pryor, WR Ronnie Bell, CB Sam Womack, DL Alex Barrett and DL T.Y. McGill.

Greenlaw sat out of the 49ers’ Week 18 loss against the Rams with the one seed locked up. However, after two weeks of rest, Greenlaw remains out with an Achilles issues. He joined Clelin Ferrell (knee) and Logan Ryan (groin) as defenders that sat out of practice on Tuesday. All three players will have the chance to practice later in the week in order to return for Saturday’s Divisional Round game against the Packers.

Greenlaw performed a suplex tackle on Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith midway through the third quarter, which sparked a scuffle between Greenlaw and the Eagles’ sideline. During the scuffle, Greenlaw put his hand in the face of the Eagles’ head of security, resulting in the decision to eject both Greenlaw and the security guard. Greenlaw was leading the 49ers with seven tackles at the time of his ejection.

The low sprain gives Greenlaw a chance to play in Week 4 with the 49ers coming off a Thursday night game. Greenlaw has been one of the 49ers leading tacklers with 22 tackles through three weeks. Rookie Dee Winters is listed as Greenlaw’s backup.

Greenlaw went down with a back injury last week and did not practice at all leading up to Week 18. He will be rested as the 49ers attempt to get healthy heading into the playoffs. His absence won’t be an issue versus David Blough this week.