Linebacker Dre Greenlaw wasn't a happy camper with the Denver Broncos last year, and now we're finding out why.
Former Denver Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw wasn’t a happy camper in BroncoLand, but now we’re starting to find out why. When Greenlaw signed with the Broncos after leaving the San Francisco 49ers, Denver coach Sean Payton explained that the Broncos practice six days a week, while Kyle Shanahan, the coach of the 49ers rested his players to keep them “fresh,” according to a story written by Luca Evans of the Denver Post.
“It’s for good reasons, too,” Greenlaw said.
Greenlaw knew he needed to ramp up his offseason training because “the Broncos practice different than the 49ers,” the linebacker told former Saints offensive lineman Terron Armstead on Armstead’s podcast, which is called “The Set.”
“Like, ‘you’re not going to be able to come in there, and just like — how you were with the 49ers, and they take care of your body, and this and that,'” Greenlaw said, recalling his conversation with the trainer. “‘The Broncos, they’re going to 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. So we started picking it up, started picking it up.”
Two days after he got to Denver, Greenlaw strained his quad, which helped lead to a difficult season where he couldn’t stay on the field.
“Should’ve been just smarter about where I was going in, and training with them at [Broncos facilities],” Greenlaw reflected. “You 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.”
Greenlaw praised Denver’s medical staff as “second to none,’ but it’s clear he feels this transition was at least partially responsible for the linebacker eventually being released. Payton clearly wasn’t happy about the injury, either, and he implied at the end of camp that it was Greenlaw’s fault for working out on his own. The conflict was never completely resolved, and now the linebacker is gone.
Greenlaw also spoke out about the one-game suspension he got at the end of Denver’s last-second win over the New York Giants in Week 7 for threatening referee Bruce Allen. Greenlaw’s explanation for this was that he as trying to argue a pass interference call on cornerback Riley Moss in the fourth quarter when Allen “gave me the side eye,” Greenlaw said.
After that his frustration boiled over, because the Broncos were “already taking me in and out.” Greenlaw went over and “roared at” Allen right after the game-winning field goal, although the tape made it clear that Greenlaw chased down Allen to do that.
“I said, ‘Man, that was (expletive),” Greenlaw said on Armstead’s podcast. “‘You a (expletive) for calling that.’ And that’s what I said to him, no cap.”
Greenlaw has since admitted that he simply “wasn’t happy” in Denver, according to Evans, but the bottom line is that this clearly wasn’t a football marriage that was meant to be.