Dre Greenlaw Out 6-8 Weeks with Groin Injury
Bad news for the 49ers defense.
Linebacker Dre Greenlaw will have a procedure to fix a groin injury that will sideline him the next 6 to 8 weeks, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Greenlaw injured his groin after intercepting a pass and returning it for a touchdown last Sunday against the Detroit Lions. He did not play in the second half.
Azeez Al-Shaair moved from strongside linebacker to weakside linebacker, and played extremely well. Al-Shaair is a quality player who looked explosive Week 1. He can make up for the loss of Greenlaw.
But Greenlaw's absence also will make Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles the strongside linebacker in the base defense. And he's just a backup.
The 49ers' upcoming opponent, the Eagles, like to run the ball out of two-tight-end formations, which will force the 49ers to put Flannigan-Fowles on the field. Which means he could play quite a bit this Sunday against an offense that rushed for 173 yards Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
In addition, the 49ers defense won't have shutdown cornerback Jason Verrett, who tore his ACL Week 1 and will miss the entire season. Plus, No. 2 cornerback Emmanuel Moseley has a knee injury and might not play this Sunday, either. Which means the 49ers could be missing their top two corners as well as Greenlaw.
The 49ers defense could struggle Sunday against the Eagles. San Francisco will need its offense to run the ball and control the game as it usually does. The defense is not equipped to win this game on its own.
