Injured San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw has been fined $5,169 for unsportsmanlike conduct during his pick-six of Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff during Week 1, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. As the NFL insider notes, that was a brutal play for the 49ers linebacker. Not only was he fined, but he re-tweaked a groin injury that he had been dealing with for weeks.
Greenlaw underwent core-muscle surgery this week and is expected to be out for four to six weeks. Rapoport reports that the procedure was a successful one.
Quite a pick-6 for #49ers LB Dre Greenlaw last week. He was fined $5,169 for unsportsmanlike conduct for waving goodbye to the #Lions on his TD… and tore his groin and underwent core muscle surgery (which was successful).
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 18, 2021
"I think we're estimating four to six weeks," head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week. "And knowing Greenlaw, and knowing the guy, knowing his personality and how much -- I mean, he's the guy who doesn't want to do this. He doesn't want to miss football. He's always trying to play through everything. So, a guy like that tends [to be] on the [lower estimate], which is four weeks. But I've also seen it happen, and things go bad and not heal the right way where I've seen guys go 12 weeks.
"We're expecting Dre in four to six weeks, and if there isn't anything that goes bad, I'd be pretty confident in that happening."
Today, the 49ers placed Greenlaw on injured reserve. He will be eligible to return after missing three games but will obviously miss more than that due to his estimated recovery time.
Greenlaw, 24, has recorded 184 tackles, two sacks, four passes defensed, two interceptions, and a touchdown in 30 game appearances (23 starts) through his three NFL seasons.