The road to recovery wasn’t easy for Dre Greenlaw.
After tearing his Achilles in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs, Greenlaw rehabbed and eventually returned to the field in December 2024.
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He’d finish the 2024 season with just nine tackles in two appearances (both starts) before departing the San Francisco 49ers for the Denver Broncos in the subsequent offseason.
Now back with the Niners following his one-year stint in the Mile High City, Greenlaw opened up to reporters on Thursday regarding the challenges he faced as a Bronco.
“Last year was tough, real tough,” Greenlaw said via NBC Sports’ Jennifer Lee Chan. “But it’s just part of ball, it’s part of life. Life [doesn’t always go] the way you want it to go. I had to learn a lot about myself last year, take a step back.”
Not only was Greenlaw forced to rehab from likely the most demoralizing injury a football player can sustain, but he was also tasked with learning an entire new defensive system.
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During his final season with San Francisco, Greenlaw was operating as a weakside backer in former defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen’s 4-3 base defense.
Upon arriving in Denver, he became an inside backer in Vance Joseph’s 3-4 base defense.
Despite all the action that led Greenlaw back to the Bay Area, including turning down an extension from the Niners during the same offseason he left, the 29-year-old believes it was all part of the process.
“I’m thankful that everything did happen the way it did, because I’m here now,” Greenlaw said. “No telling what happens if I take that offer then. We all know that last year was a tough year, so you just never know how it would have went, but I’m happy to play football.”
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Greenlaw re-arrived in San Francisco amid an overhaul of the defense that included fellow outside additions Osa Odighizua, Nate Hobbs and Jack Jones — along with incoming rookies Romello Height, Gracen Halton, Ephesians Prysock and Jaden Dugger.
In new-Niners defensive coordinator Raheem Morris’ multiple schemes, Greenlaw will serve as the depth piece San Francisco was desperately missing last season.
While he’s unlikely to have the same impact he did prior to the Achilles tear with the Niners next season, reuniting him with a healthy Fred Warner positions San Francisco to deploy a much-improved linebacking core as it looks to compete in a crowded NFC West landscape.