Sean Payton Updates Broncos' LB Dre Greenlaw's Outlook vs. 49ers

It may not come as much of a surprise, but Denver Broncos inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw isn't expected to play in the team's preseason opener on Saturday night vs. the San Francisco 49ers. Following Thursday's joint practice with the Niners, Broncos head coach Sean Payton laid it out for Greenlaw.

“He’s doing really well. We were fortunate last week with a little scare," Payton said of Greenlaw. "He probably won’t play in the game and will be back working full speed on Monday."

Greenlaw was signed to a three-year deal this past March, after playing the entirety of his career with the Niners. He suffered a grievous Achilles injury in San Francisco's Super Bowl loss a year and a half ago, which claimed most of his 2024 season, too.

Unfortunately, upon arriving in Denver, it didn't take long for Greenlaw to get injured, as he suffered a quad issue during an offseason workout. At the time, it wasn't a huge concern as the Broncos were yet to kick off their offseason training program.

To his credit, Greenlaw stayed present and around during the offseason program, from the meeting room to the locker room, cafeteria, and on the field, though he didn't participate. The goal was to get him healthy for training camp, and that's what the Broncos did.

But as a guy who "expresses himself" so well when the pads go on, as Payton has said of Greenlaw, it didn't take him long to tweak his other quad a week or so into Broncos training camp. If the season were here, perhaps he wouldn't be missing any time, other than practices, but the Broncos are proceeding with an abundance of caution when it comes to their high-value linebacker who conjures images of Mike Tyson in the mind of his head coach.

It was a disappointment for Greenlaw that he wasn't able to participate in Thursday's joint practice with the Niners, but he was there, so at least he got to see all of his friends and former teammates. And the same goes for new Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga and defensive tackle D.J. Jones, both of whom were also teammates with Greenlaw in San Francisco.

"It’s always emotional for a guy like him and Hufanga to come back. Those guys have had a lot of wins here with a lot of teammates and coaches, and so we definitely were bringing [him]," Payton said of Greenlaw. "There were a handful of injured players that we felt we could better serve them here relative to treatment. Then there were a few that stayed at home based on the type of injury.”

By now, Broncos Country has heard Payton talk about what attracted the team to Greenlaw and Hufanga in free agency this past spring. But not everyone in the Bay Area press has heard the story.

“There’s just a leadership. There’s a confidence about them," Payton said on Thursday. "Both are very serious, and I want to say that the right way, but very serious about winning and the process. I think when you can add pieces like that to a young roster, it’s invaluable.”

So far, so good. You'd like to see Greenlaw avoid the injury bug altogether, but the silver lining is that his two injury scares since arriving in Denver have been relatively minor. And when he's been on the field, it's easy to see why the Broncos coveted him.

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Don't expect to see Greenlaw on Saturday night. But it's all with the hope of ensuring he's on the field when the Broncos open the regular season at home vs. the Tennessee Titans.