Dre Greenlaw’s 2023 season came to an abrupt end after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in San Francisco’s Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but the 49ers star is on the road to recovery.
While speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt at the Dwight Clark Legacy Series on Thursday night in San Jose, Greenlaw revealed that he’s encouraged with the progress he’s making while he works to make it back on the field.
“It’s a long slow process, I’m, feeling really, really good though,” Greenlaw told Britt. “I’m happy to be able to walk on the stage actually. It’s been about three months since the injury, I just recently got out the boot. Just slowly everyday rehabbing, getting the strength, getting the mobility and doing whatever it takes to get on the field as soon as possible.”
Britt then asked Greenlaw about how he dealt with the early process of his rehab, which the star linebacker revealed was a rough stretch that left him emotional at times.
“It was definitely some hard, hard times,” Greenlaw shared. “Thankfully I had my son and my fiance with me to support me through those times. I was getting a lot of phone calls and people checking up, but after about a week that dies down and you’re just kind of laying in bed. Every now and then you’ll get a memory or a thought about the game and try not to think about it too much, just kind of try to put it past you. Every now and then you start just thinking about everything and thinking about where you’re at and it does get a little emotional sometimes.”
“I just know I can’t stop. If I stop, nobody is going to do it for me. Just got to keep going.”
Greenlaw was presented with the 2024 Dwight Clark Award, a presitgious honor given to the 49ers player who best exemplifies Clark’s spirit of teamwork and camaraderie. Fred Warner — who earned the same honor in 2023 — presented the award to Greenlaw, with the pair of 49ers linebackers sharing a heartwarming embrace on the stage.
While the timetable for Greenlaw’s eventual return is unclear, the 26-year-old remains dedicated to perservering through his rehab to make his way back on the field and help the 49ers capture the sixth Vince Lombardi trophy that San Francisco so narrowly missed out on three months ago.
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