Dre Greenlaw's Powerful End-of-Season Message Should Inspire Broncos

Take it from Dre Greenlaw. He's been here before.

November 2, 2025: Denver Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) celebrates a defensive stop during a game between the Denver Broncos and the Houston Texans in Houston, TX. | Trask Smith / IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The Denver Broncos had a phenomenal 2025 season. So many bounces of the football went their way during the team's 11-game winning streak during the regular season.

Even the Broncos' 33-30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs required Lady Luck to smile upon them. That's not to say the Broncos got lucky, beating the Bills, but they may have used up all their good fortune by out-lasting the Bills in that game.

Bo Nix suffered a fractured ankle on the third-to-last play of the game. Within an hour of the final gun, Broncos Country — and the team — went from the height of euphoric triumph to the depths of shocking disappointment.

Asking Jarrett Stidham to take over for Nix in such a big game with only a week's preparation was too much, especially in the face of the second-half weather the Broncos faced in the AFC championship game and the quality of opponent in the form of the New England Patriots.

However, Broncos veteran linebacker Dre Greenlaw has been here before. And he shared his message to his teammates in the locker room after Denver's season came to an end in the AFC title game.

“A lot of guys were hurt, and a lot of guys are hurt still. It’s definitely a tough feeling," Greenlaw said the next day. "I told the guys that I have been in this position before, too. Quarterback goes down, and you are in the AFC or NFC Championship. You’re trying to find a way, and you come up short. I told them that the next year we went to the Super Bowl. We have the talent in the room and talent in the building to get it done.”

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Lessons From the Past

Jan 29, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (51) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) walk off the field after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Greenlaw is referencing his time with the San Francisco 49ers. In the 2022 season's NFC championship game, the 49ers lost starting quarterback Brock Purdy to a first-half injury to his throwing elbow vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.

Josh Johnson stepped in for Purdy, but the Eagles prevailed 31-7. The next year, Purdy returned, leading the 49ers past the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game to the Super Bowl. Alas, San Francisco couldn't get past the Kansas City Chiefs that year in the Super Bowl.

It was in that Super Bowl that Greenlaw suffered a freak torn Achilles tendon that interrupted his career trajectory with the 49ers, and in many ways, led to his eventual departure to Denver last year. He's been knocked down, and he's been part of a team that's been dealt a blow of bad luck, only to get back up and battle back.

The Broncos should take Greenlaw's 49ers history lesson to heart. If Nix doesn't get hurt in the divisional round, I'd have had the utmost confidence in the Broncos getting past the Patriots at home, and advancing to the Super Bowl.

Now, whether the Broncous could have out-dueled the Seattle Seahawks is up for debate. I believe Nix would have, at the very least, traded field goals with Darnold through three quarters of the game, and that the Broncos' defense would have at least given him a chance to work his fourth-quarter magic at the end.

We'll never know how that would have turned out if the injury bug hadn't taken such a big bite out of the Broncos at the worst possible moment. But it at least illustrates just how close to the big dance the Broncos actually are.

With a little intestinal fortitude, the Broncos can pick themselves up by the bootstraps this offseason, dust themselves off, and bow up for another Super Bowl run in 2026. And this time, Greenlaw gets to hit the offseason fully healthy.

“It’s huge. When you don’t go into the offseason healthy and especially if you go this late, it’ just sets you back. You don’t get the time to prepare and you don’t get the time to train," Greenlaw said on January 26. "You’re focusing on calves and whatever it is you are rehabbing that you don’t really have the time to play football. To be able to go into the offseason healthy so you can be a step or try to get a step ahead, it makes it that much easier.”

Greenlaw speaks from experience. Just last year, he spent most of his offseason rehabbing a quad, and after suffering a setback early in training camp, that stretched until Week 7 before he was finally activated off injured reserve.

After also serving a one-game suspension, Greenlaw would appear in eight games in his first season with the Broncos, with seven starts. He finished with 43 combined tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and one interception.

Extrapolated over a full 17-game season, it would be some nice production at linebacker. Let's hope Greenlaw can avoid the trainer's table this offseason, and stay healthy.