When the Denver Broncos signed Dre Greenlaw in free agency this offseason, they were hoping he would bolster the defense and return to form as one of the better linebackers in the NFL.
Instead, things are off to a terrible start. Greenlaw missed the first two games of the season with a quadriceps injury and was placed on injured reserve right before the team's Week 3 game. Greenlaw had been battling a quad injury all offseason and suffered a setback before he was shut down.
The placement on IR means Greenlaw has to miss a minimum of four games, so he won't be eligible to return until Week 7 against the New York Giants.
But will he be activated when first eligible? And if not, when will he be activated?
Here's what we know.
Dre Greenlaw injury update
Greenlaw will be eligible to be activated off injured reserve in Week 7, but it remains unclear if that will actually happen.
Last Tuesday, head coach Sean Payton revealed that the initial expectation was that Greenlaw was four weeks away from playing at the start of the season, which is the reason behind not putting him on injured reserve.
But, as it turned out, Greenlaw ended up needing more time than that.
"We felt like the last thing we wanted to do is have him come out too early and re-injure it. Jordan and I sat down with him, spent some time discussing it, and there is plenty of season left. In hindsight, we could have said it and done it sooner. But, at that time, the information was ‘Hey, this is four weeks away,' and it’s a bit longer," Payton said.
Based on the fact that the Broncos are playing the long game with Greenlaw, who was their second-most expensive free-agent signing in 2025, it would not be shocking to see him back later than the minimally-required IR stay.
Unfortunately, there just is no concrete answer for his return timeline, but that's par for the course for one of the more frustrating situations in Denver right now.
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