Dre Greenlaw’s absence from the San Francisco 49ers’ defense has been glaring throughout a maddeningly inconsistent campaign.
While De’Vondre Campbell’s play at WILL linebacker has improved in recent weeks, asking the veteran former All-Pro to replicate what Greenlaw can do at that spot with his significantly superior athletic gifts was always going to be a tall order.
Indeed, the 49ers have looked a lot slower on defense without Greenlaw flying from sideline to sideline in pursuit and excelling in coverage as he has so often done next to All-Pro running mate Fred Warner.
But there may be light at the end of the tunnel, with Greenlaw’s long road to recovery from the torn Achilles he suffered running on to the field in the second quarter of Super Bowl 58 in February seemingly nearing its conclusion.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said in his Monday conference call with local media that the 49ers are hoping to open Greenlaw’s 21-day practice window next week.
Greenlaw has spent the entire season on the PUP list, but his return to practice would obviously be a massive step towards him getting back on the field this year.
The challenge for the 49ers, after dropping to 5-5 with another divisional loss, this time at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, is to ensure they are still in the playoff mix by the time he does return.
San Francisco is still only a game out of the NFC West lead, though the 6-4 Arizona Cardinals have the tiebreaker over the Niners as it stands. However, the 49ers’ playoff hopes are gradually diminishing, and another conference loss to the Green Bay Packers this Sunday might leave the 49ers with too much of a mountain to climb.
The hope with Greenlaw was always that he could rejoin the team late in the season to aid the 49ers in what they hoped would be another push towards the Super Bowl.
Now the Niners are struggling to even stay in the postseason race. If they continue to fall away, there will be little point in Greenlaw making his return. As such, his prospective return to the practice field is huge extra incentive for the 49ers to get back on track and upset the odds against the Packers on Sunday.
The 49ers shouldn’t need additional motivation at this point in a hugely frustrating season, but the potential for them to help Greenlaw possibly get another shot at a Super Bowl after his experience in Las Vegas ended all too early should be ample extra fire for San Francisco as this team aims to right a ship that is way off course.
