Dre Greenlaw knew life with the Broncos was going to be different from the moment he signed. And as it turned out, that helped to determine his fate — and planted the seeds for the end of his Broncos stint after just one season.
“I talked to my trainer here, and he’s like, ‘Hey, man, we gotta start picking up the intensity and things like that, because the Broncos practice different than the Niners,” Greenlaw told former Saints and Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead on Armstead’s show, “The Set.”
“You’re not going to be able to come in there and [be] how you were with the Niners and they take care of your body, this and that. Broncos, they gonna want you to go every day. They’re six days on. Their rehab is tough, all of this and this.
“So I’m just like, ‘OK, let’s get it going.’”
But after dealing with injuries in the previous 13 months, he pushed too far.
“And, yeah, man, once I just got there, man, it just, it was tough because it was like I pulled my quad second day I got there,” Greenlaw said.
“… [I] should have been just smarter about where I was going in and training with them at.
“.You’re going into a new spot, you want to get going, this and that and that, basically just had some hiccups that I really just — I felt like I had no control over.”
Indeed, when Greenlaw returned for Broncos training camp, he didn’t even make it a week into full-scale practice before he was sidelined again. He returned later in the preseason, but by Week 1, he was back on the sideline, and then landed on injured reserve three weeks into the season.
“I never got to be in a training camp for a week or two. It was never OTAs for a week. It was just like, always trying to come back and come back from this quad,” Greenlaw said.
“And, yeah, so I really didn’t even get on the field until, like, Week 8 to where I was actually on the field.”
And the issues continued.
“Had a hiccup along the way with the hamstring, and the ref,” he said, referring to the confrontation with referee Brad Allen in the celebration after beating the New York Giants that led to a one-game suspension.
“Had a hiccup with the hamstring to cost me a game or two,” he continued, referring to the injury he suffered in Week 16 against Jacksonville. “So it was just a roller coaster of a ride kind of that I could never really get the ball rolling, man.”
NO HARD FEELINGS FOR GREENLAW TOWARD THE BRONCOS
The change to the Broncos’ 3-4 defense from the 49ers’ 4-3 scheme didn’t help, either.
“Going from 4-3 to a 3-4, man, it was a huge different world, especially not being able to practice in the defense,” Greenlaw said.
“It was the fact that I’m not healthy, I don’t feel that twitch or that, that gear that I feel like I need to have, but, obviously, I’m out here trying to do everything I can to be on the field, but it makes it tough when, you pay a guy 11 [million] and he’s only on the field 50% of the time.”
And the emergence of Justin Strnad complicated matters. By the time Greenlaw was ready to play in Week 7, the then-six-year veteran had proved his worth. In Greenlaw’s debut, he intercepted a Jaxson Dart pass during the Broncos’ rally from a 19-point deficit, a takeaway that proved to be one of the most impactful plays of the season.
“The linebackers were playing really, really good at the time, so it’s like, like, now I gotta come in, I’m just taking reps from this guy,” Greenlaw said. “And now it’s like, okay, we’re splitting the reps. How we’re gonna do it? One week it’s this; one week it’s that.”
Bottom line?
“Man, I’ve never been in that position before for one, and then for two, it just felt like, yeah, I just — I wasn’t happy,” Greenlaw said. “That’s really what it boils down to at the end of the day.”
Still …
“I don’t regret none of it,” he told Armstead.
“The situation that happened, I’m thankful for it all, for Sean and for the Penners, everybody that accepted me into that organization, teammates and all.”
And Payton was magnanimous toward Greenlaw when discussing him and the decision to release him at the NFL Annual Meeting this week.
“That was a tough one. Here is why: he is so passionate,” Payton said. “In my career as a coach, I’ve been lucky enough to coach a lot of passionate players that love the game. I’m always disappointed internally that that didn’t work out because I love that player. I love how he competes. I love all the things he brings. You feel somewhat responsible when it doesn’t work out.”
Still, once the Broncos re-signed both Strnad and Alex Singleton, there was no other option. Those two contracts only happen if each player is projected to start. Each would have walked without an assurance of heading into the offseason as a starter, because they would have had first-team options on the open market.
So now, Greenlaw is right back where he started with the 49ers, with no ill will … just a looming reunion in a duel with the Broncos at a date to be determined this season.
