As Dre Greenlaw gave a slight shake of his head, a San Francisco logo hung on the wall behind him, directly over the ex-Bronco\u2019s left shoulder. Symbolic of a fresh beginning, in an old home. Symbolic, too, of an injury-riddled season that Greenlaw appreciated but wants to leave on the cutting-room floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like if y\u2019all would have gotten a chance to know each other better, like, Sean Payton and how he operates,\u201d former Saints left tackle Terron Armstead said to Greenlaw on his podcast, \u201cif y\u2019all knew each other, like, \u2018Dre don\u2019t need to be out here (practicing) Wednesday.’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMan,\u201d Greenlaw said, with a wistful smile.<\/p>\n
That single word said enough, on its own, about Greenlaw\u2019s time in Denver<\/a>. But the linebacker had plenty more to reveal on an hour-plus-long episode of Armstead\u2019s \u201cThe Set\u201d podcast this week<\/a> \u2014 and implied that his adjustment to Payton and the Broncos\u2019 intensive offseason schedule triggered the quad injury that dashed much of his 2025 season.<\/p>\n Two days after the Broncos\u2019 season-ending AFC Championship loss in late January, Greenlaw told reporters that Payton was \u201cold-school\u201d in his methods and the \u201ccomplete opposite\u201d of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who Greenlaw played for for six seasons in San Francisco before joining Denver last offseason. Payton, Greenlaw explained, has his players practice six days a week. Shanahan, Greenlaw added, tries to keep players \u201cfresh.\u201d Different methods.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s for good reasons, too,\u201d Greenlaw said.<\/p>\n A tough start to a tough season<\/p>\n A few weeks after the Broncos cut ties with Greenlaw<\/a> and he signed back with San Francisco, though, the linebacker went further in-depth on what went wrong in Denver. In March 2025, Greenlaw signed with the Broncos for three years and $35 million, coming off a 2024 season where an Achilles injury wiped him out for all but two games. And Greenlaw told Armstead that his trainer, then, told him he needed to ramp up his offseason training, because \u201cthe Broncos practice different than the 49ers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike, \u2018you\u2019re not going to be able to come in there, and just like \u2014 how you were with the 49ers, and they take care of your body, and this and that,’\u201d Greenlaw told Armstead, recalling his conversation with the trainer. \u201c\u2018The Broncos, they\u2019re going to want you to go every day. They\u2019re six days on. Their rehab is tough. All of this, and this.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m just like, OK, let\u2019s get it going. So we started picking it up, started picking it up.\u201d<\/p>\n Then \u2014 exactly two days after he got to Denver, Greenlaw revealed \u2014 he strained his quad<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cShould\u2019ve been just smarter about where I was going in, and training with them at,\u201d Greenlaw reflected. \u201cYou go into a new spot, you want to get going, this and that and that. And basically just had some hiccups that I really felt like I had no control over.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked for comment, the Broncos told The Post that the organization \u2014 according to anonymized team data collected by the NFL and disseminated to all 32 franchises \u2014 ranked first in the NFL in fewest injuries (37) suffered and had the third-fewest regular-season games missed (23) due to injury among players on the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n Greenlaw himself called Denver\u2019s training staff \u201csecond-to-none\u201d on Armstead\u2019s podcast, despite the injury-riddled season. The Broncos\u2019 brass has repeatedly expressed confidence in vice president of player health and performance Beau Lowery, including an end-of-season presser by general manager George Paton.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Beau Lowery and our medical department, we feel really strong about their opinion,\u201d Paton said. \u201cAnd if someone\u2019s been hurt somewhere else, maybe we feel like we can get them going. We\u2019ll have a plan \u2013 not that other teams don\u2019t \u2013 but we just feel really strong about our medical team, our sports performance team, where we can bring someone into our environment, and they can thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n Greenlaw\u2019s quad injury kick-started an extended rehab that featured multiple setbacks and flare-ups through training camp, as Greenlaw never saw the field in Denver until Week 7\u2019s matchup with the New York Giants<\/a>. He played much of the season on a snap count, missed two games late in the year with a separate hamstring injury<\/a>, and returned for the playoffs in a time-share with inside linebacker Justin Strnad.<\/p>\n The 28-year-old linebacker wound up playing just 44% of the Broncos\u2019 defensive snaps in the postseason and finished his cumulative 2025 season with 53 tackles in 10 games.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes it tough when you pay a guy $11 million,\u201d Greenlaw said on the podcast, \u201cand he\u2019s only on the field 50% of the time. So it made it tough for me, bro. And it made it to the point where \u2014 it kinda makes you not happy, you know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d<\/p>\n