NFL drops the hammer on 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw after his decision to headbutt Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV on Sunday
The San Francisco 49ers will head into a Monday Night Football matchup shorthanded after the league ruled on Dre Greenlaw’s sideline scrum with the Seattle Seahawks. Here is what the decision means and why one former Seahawk sees things differently.
Well, it’s official. The NFL has handed down its punishment for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw, and it’s going to cost him more than an early trip to the locker room. Most 49ers fans have seen the clip by now. Greenlaw got tangled up in a scrum on the Seattle Seahawks’ sideline, Ernest Jones got in his ear, and Greenlaw responded with a headbutt.
The officials ejected Greenlaw on the spot. That alone usually stirs up a debate about whether an ejection is enough. We’ve seen it before with Jalen Carter. Sometimes an ejection, especially one early in a game, essentially serves as the suspension, and the league moves on.
That isn’t the case this time.
Dre Greenlaw suspended for headbutt on Ernest Jones
As you can see in this post from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the league made its decision clear:
“Per the NFL, 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw has been suspended without pay for one game for an act of unsportsmanlike conduct during Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.”
I’m not going to get into every bit of fine print that comes with these rulings. Greenlaw does have the option to appeal, and he very well might. However, I’m not convinced he’s going to have much luck. The headbutt is on video, and the NFL has made it clear it wasn’t going to let this one slide.
Richard Sherman says Ernest Jones IV played the ‘game within the game’
Greenlaw does have one interesting ally in his corner, and it comes from a place 49ers fans probably didn’t expect. Former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman weighed in on his podcast and said Ernest Jones IV knew exactly what he was doing in that scrum.
According to Sherman, Jones was playing into the “Game within the game.” In other words, Jones found a way to get under Greenlaw’s skin, baited him into a reaction, and walked away with Seattle’s opponent down a starting linebacker.
Quite frankly, I think Sherman is right. That doesn’t excuse what Greenlaw did, and it won’t change the outcome of the suspension. Still, it’s hard to watch the clip and not see a player who knew which buttons to push.
Greenlaw’s emotion cuts both ways for San Francisco
None of this is new for Greenlaw. We know he’s an emotional football player, and that emotion has always served two purposes.
On his best days, that tenacity is exactly what makes him so valuable to the San Francisco defense. He plays with an edge, he flies to the football, and he unloads that energy on opposing offenses. That’s a big part of why the 49ers love having him on the field.
On the other hand, that same edge gets him in trouble far too often. Opponents know it, too. If a guy like Jones can bait Greenlaw into a reaction, other teams are going to try the same thing.
This latest instance is going to cost him a game, and it’s not just any game. The 49ers’ next outing comes on Monday Night Football, with a national audience watching. San Francisco is arguably the best team in the league right now, but it will have to prove that without one of the emotional leaders on its defense.
Greenlaw will be back after one week, and the 49ers have the depth to survive his absence. Even so, this is a lesson he needs to take to heart. When an opponent is playing the game within the game, the smartest move is to refuse to play along.
