Greenlaw is referencing his time with the San Francisco 49ers. In the 2022 season’s NFC championship game, the 49ers lost starting quarterback Brock Purdy to a first-half injury to his throwing elbow vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.
Josh Johnson stepped in for Purdy, but the Eagles prevailed 31-7. The next year, Purdy returned, leading the 49ers past the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game to the Super Bowl. Alas, San Francisco couldn’t get past the Kansas City Chiefs that year in the Super Bowl.
It was in that Super Bowl that Greenlaw suffered a freak torn Achilles tendon that interrupted his career trajectory with the 49ers, and in many ways, led to his eventual departure to Denver last year. He’s been knocked down, and he’s been part of a team that’s been dealt a blow of bad luck, only to get back up and battle back.
The Broncos should take Greenlaw’s 49ers history lesson to heart. If Nix doesn’t get hurt in the divisional round, I’d have had the utmost confidence in the Broncos getting past the Patriots at home, and advancing to the Super Bowl.
Now, whether the Broncous could have out-dueled the Seattle Seahawks is up for debate. I believe Nix would have, at the very least, traded field goals with Darnold through three quarters of the game, and that the Broncos’ defense would have at least given him a chance to work his fourth-quarter magic at the end.
We’ll never know how that would have turned out if the injury bug hadn’t taken such a big bite out of the Broncos at the worst possible moment. But it at least illustrates just how close to the big dance the Broncos actually are.
With a little intestinal fortitude, the Broncos can pick themselves up by the bootstraps this offseason, dust themselves off, and bow up for another Super Bowl run in 2026. And this time, Greenlaw gets to hit the offseason fully healthy.
“It’s huge. When you don’t go into the offseason healthy and especially if you go this late, it’ just sets you back. You don’t get the time to prepare and you don’t get the time to train,” Greenlaw said on January 26. “You’re focusing on calves and whatever it is you are rehabbing that you don’t really have the time to play football. To be able to go into the offseason healthy so you can be a step or try to get a step ahead, it makes it that much easier.”
Greenlaw speaks from experience. Just last year, he spent most of his offseason rehabbing a quad, and after suffering a setback early in training camp, that stretched until Week 7 before he was finally activated off injured reserve.
After also serving a one-game suspension, Greenlaw would appear in eight games in his first season with the Broncos, with seven starts. He finished with 43 combined tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and one interception.
Extrapolated over a full 17-game season, it would be some nice production at linebacker. Let’s hope Greenlaw can avoid the trainer’s table this offseason, and stay healthy.