NFL Reaches Final Decision on Broncos LB Greenlaw Suspension
The NFL has decided to uphold the one-game suspension of Denver Broncos inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, the league announced on Tuesday following a formal appeal.
Greenlaw will officially miss Week 8 against Dallas before being reinstated to play.
The suspension stems from extracurricular activity that occurred in the aftermath of Denver's historic 33-32 comeback victory over the New York Giants on Sunday. Greenlaw was captured on video chasing and verbally hounding referee Brad Allen, who tossed a flag despite the game being over.
According to ESPN, the league said in a statement that Greenlaw "violated Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(b), which prohibits 'the use of abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials, or representatives of the League.'"
Allen, for what it's worth, was also seen on the video seemingly pushing Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad in the middle of the scrum, which may have contributed to Greenlaw's actions.
Signed to a two-year contract in March, Greenlaw made his 2025 debut versus the Giants after spending the first quarter of the season on injured reserve due to a quad issue. The former 49ers star finished with six combined tackles and one quarterback hit across 21 defensive snaps, flashing physicality throughout the contest.
"That’s how I play the game, man," Greenlaw said, via The Denver Post. "I love hitting people. I love my job. I love what I do. "Football is the only place where you can go out there and hit people and not go to jail for it," he joked. "So yeah, I’m going to take advantage of my time.”
With Greenlaw again unavailable, the Broncos will return to a starting inside linebacker combination of Alex Singleton and Strnad against the Cowboys. The latter made arguably the biggest play of last week's thriller, intercepting Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart amid Denver's furious fourth-quarter comeback.
“[It was] unbelievable, I forgot about it," Payton said of the interception in his postgame press conference. "When he first caught it, I thought there was a [No.] 40 on their team, and then, thankfully, they were in white and we were in orange. Yeah that was two-fold. It was a turnover, but it also put us—it’s like a double whammy. You get the ball and then you get it there. That probably was the difference in winning and losing the game.”
1 Quiet Reason the Raiders' Offense Has Struggled This Season
The Las Vegas Raiders' offense has struggled this season for various reasons, mainly subpar play along the offensive line and at quarterback. However, the lack of playmakers at skill positions, for various reasons, have held the Raiders' offense back.
Raiders Rookies Must Improve
The Raiders invested a second-round pick into drafting Jack Bech, proving how much they believed in him before he ever put a Raiders jersey on. However, Bech must do his part and work through the growing pains only the Raiders' coaching staff knows about.
Bech and Dont'e Thornton were brought in to be two of those playmakers but have yet to make much of an impact. Bech's lack of playing time on an offense in desperate need of help at wide receiver speaks volumes about where Las Vegas' coaching staff believes he is developmentally.
“The more plays that we can log with the new guys, Jack [Bech] and Dont'e [Thornton Jr.], we can show them the things that they need to improve on and the things that they're not quite as sharp on. It helps them. And there's some pain in that too. There's some pain in there that we have to undergo. But it's how you do it,” Carroll said.
“By the time you get to the middle of the season, these guys should have things really cleaned up, and they should be ready to go and we can count on them and they can come through and not be error repeaters, you know? And that's what we're working hard at."
During the Bye Week, Raiders' Wide Receivers Coach Chris Beatty gave an update on the development of both of Las Vegas' wide receivers. If the Raiders can get Bech and Thornton up to speed quickly, it could alleviate some of the issues they are having on offense.
"Some ups and downs. We have got to be more consistent. Both of those guys are learning a lot. Theres good and bad in everything. First couple of games, Dont'e had an explosive play in every game," Beatty said.
"He has kind of fell back a little bit and some of the fundamentals, we have got to continue to build on. Same thing with Jack. They have done okay but there is a lot more out there. So, we will keep pushing them and getting the most out of them."
