Dre Greenlaw believes he is making significant progress on his road to recovery from the torn Achilles he sustained in the second quarter of the Super Bowl.
"It's coming along," Greenlaw shared last week with NBC Sports Bay Area. "It's a long, slow process that you just kind of gotta be ready for every day to wake up and attack whatever it is that I'm trying to work on. And for me, that's, right now, just the strength and the mobility, just trying to get good range of motion in it."
Greenlaw isn't predicting a potential date for his return to the football field. He aims to rejoin his teammates early in the upcoming season but will be wise with his recovery. The linebacker has no plans to return before he is 100 percent ready.
San Francisco lost Super Bowl 58 in overtime, once again suffering a gut-wrenching defeat at the hands of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They previously lost Super Bowl 54 to the same team.
Few would argue that Greenlaw's absence for much of the game had no impact. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was clearly frustrated after being held to one catch for one yard in the first half. He exploded in the second half without Greenlaw on the field, finishing the game with nine catches for 93 yards.
Greenlaw hesitates to declare that his presence would have guaranteed a 49ers victory. However, he does know he would have given his all until the game clock hit zero.
"I think it was just the energy that I was bringing," Greenlaw told Matt Maiocco on the "49ers Talk" podcast. "I wouldn't necessarily say I would have stopped Travis Kelce. He would have made some good plays and good catches and did some good things, but I know I would have made some plays out there. So I know I would have made some plays to help my team. I would have brought the energy to help my team, and I would have played hard as hell out there.
"I know that I felt like that would have got us the victory; I do. But at the same time—I don't know—I just know I would have gave it all I got, and hopefully, that would have been enough."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Greenlaw below. It begins at about the 8-minute mark.