Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw heads to injured reserve with lingering quad injury: Source

The Denver Broncos are placing linebacker Dre Greenlaw on injured reserve, a league source confirmed.

Greenlaw, who signed with the Broncos as a free agent in March, missed the first two games of the season with a quad injury and had already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The former San Francisco 49ers standout initially suffered the injury in April, just before the NFL Draft.

Greenlaw was cleared to return for training camp and participated under a load management plan, but aggravated the injury while covering running back J.K. Dobbins in a passing drill during the first week of camp and was held out of all preseason games and joint practices.

Greenlaw practiced on a limited basis ahead of Denver’s Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts, but did not practice this week.

“We felt like he’s kind of on our schedule,” coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. “And, look, we spend time on it because it’s a little nebulous relative to the injury. That’s all I’ll say.”

Greenlaw suffered an Achilles tear while playing with San Francisco in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024. He missed all but two games the following season. The Broncos, searching for a more physical force in the middle of their defense, signed Greenlaw to a three-year, $35 million contract in March, which came with $11.5 million in guarantees.

With Greenlaw unavailable, the Broncos have started veteran Justin Strnad next to Alex Singleton at inside linebacker to begin the season. Strnad has a sack in each of Denver’s first two games, but the team’s inside linebackers struggled in pass coverage during a 29-28 loss to Indianapolis a week ago.

Greenlaw will miss at least the next four games. He’ll be eligible to return in Week 7, when the Broncos host the New York Giants.

(Photo: Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images)