It'll be a daunting journey ahead for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw. Following Sunday's Super Bowl 58 defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Kyle Shanahan informed reporters that Greenlaw suffered a torn Achilles in the game.
Greenlaw's injury came in the second quarter. The linebacker wasn't in the game at the time. As he sprinted onto the field from the sideline, Greenlaw collapsed in pain. Training and medical staff tended to the player before he was carted off to the locker room and later ruled out for the remainder of the game.
"That's depressing to get injured in the Super Bowl," tight end George Kittle said of his defensive teammate. "Hopefully, he hits up Aaron Rodgers and figured out how to heal that quickly. Besides that, Dre's the heartbeat of our defense, him and [LB] Fred [Warner] in there, and how they feed off each other. ... We lose a guy like Dre, it's tough. He's just such a fantastic football player, and he's everything that the Niners stand for. So to lose him, it just really, really sucks for him."
Greenlaw's injury stood out as the most significant of the game. Kittle and wide receiver Deebo Samuel exited with injuries but returned to the game. Samuel sustained a left hamstring injury in the third quarter, while Kittle injured his shoulder during overtime.
Shanahan stated that Kittle was playing through considerable pain at the end.
When asked about the injury, Kittle was vague, saying, "It's something I'll have time to deal with. It's an upper-body injury—for my hockey guys."