On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers improved to 4-0 on the season with a 24-14 win over the Denver Broncos. It was a game that was more competitive and more of a grind-it-out affair than the final score may suggest.
The Niners’ defense led the way in this game and kept them in it until their offense warmed up in the second half. Off-ball linebacker Dre Greenlaw shone brightly with 12 total tackles (seven solo) and one forced fumble, and it looks like he has returned to form after tearing his Achilles during Super Bowl LVIII.
Greenlaw spent last season with the Broncos after playing with San Francisco during the first six seasons of his NFL career. At one point during Sunday’s game, he talked trash to Broncos head coach Sean Payton, and he was at it again just after the game ended.
The NFL has fined Greenlaw
As a result, the league fined Greenlaw $11,941 for taunting the opposing team’s bench during a game, per Aaron Wilson of KRPC in Houston.
Greenlaw admitted that Sunday’s game was personal for him because he felt Payton didn’t respect him during his brief time in Denver. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Greenlaw said Payton stopped speaking to him in November 2025, presumably because he was struggling with injuries and wasn’t playing well.
When Greenlaw talked trash to Payton just after victory was secured, he was so demonstrative that fellow Niners linebacker Fred Warner had to hold him back.
“I told him to get the [expletive] off the field,” Greenlaw said he told Payton. “That’s it: ‘Get the [expletive] off the field.’”
In 2025, Greenlaw appeared in eight games and totaled 43 total tackles (15 solo), two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, one sack and two passes defended. Denver released him in March, paving the way for him to return to San Francisco, but according to Greenlaw, Payton didn’t tell him he was being cut.
“He couldn’t be man-to-man and call my phone and say, ‘We’re going to cut you.’”
Through four games this year, he has 34 total tackles (16 solo). He and Warner are once again forming one of the NFL’s best linebacker duos, and as a result, the 49ers rank third in points allowed as they head into this Sunday’s game against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
