ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Dre Greenlaw is back at work this week, ready to go — and ready for a full workload if that’s what defensive coordinator Vance Joseph chooses to throw his way.
“I can go all day,” he said with a smile.
Greenlaw played 21 snaps in his return to action Oct. 19 against the New York Giants. But any hopes of him building on that evaporated when the NFL issued him a one-game suspension for what it described as “verbally threatening” referee Brad Allen on the field in the moments after the Broncos’ 33-32 comeback win.
Eleven days after the game — and nine days after the league denied Greenlaw’s appeal of the punishment — he remained unclear as to exactly why it came down on him.
“Honestly, they didn’t tell me,” Greenlaw said. “They just — show clips or whatever, but they’re going to make their decision, and all you can do is just do what they tell you.”
It wouldn’t be the first time that there hasn’t been clarity about a league suspension; former Broncos safety Kareem Jackson made a similar lament two years ago in the midst of his multiple suspensions for on-field hits.
But Greenlaw still put the blame on himself.
“Yeah, I mean, I just shouldn’t have put my teammates and the team in that position,” he said. “That was just the emotion of the game. First game back, just turned.”
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WHAT’S NEXT IN GREENLAW’S SECOND GAME BACK?
Presumably more snaps; as noted earlier, he feels ready for that.
Neither Greenlaw nor defensive coordinator Vance Joseph believes there should be any issue in further integrating him into the defense after missing so much playing time due to the quadriceps issues that began arising in April.
“I’ve been in training camp OTAs the whole nine yards,” Greenlaw said. “So, I’ve heard every, every practice, every, every team meeting, every meeting I’m in. So, it’s pretty simple.
Added Joseph: “Mentally he’s been awesome. He’s been locked in, he’s been studying. Even when he wasn’t practicing, he’s taking the walkthrough reps, he’s taking every walkthrough rep. So, mentally he’s fine.”
Physically? Well, Joseph may exercise a bit more caution than Greenlaw thinks is necessary.
“Physically, obviously he needs more reps to kind of get his football air. He was a little tired week one [of being back],” Joseph said.
“… He’s back on his schedule to kind of just keep moving forward, and playing good football and keep practicing and keep going as a player. To have a chance to play back-to-back weeks is going to be key for Dre.”
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