Dre Greenlaw’s Sunday in Seattle ended the way nobody in San Francisco wanted it to: with an ejection after the 49ers linebacker took things too far during a second-quarter sideline scrum.
The sequence started when Greenlaw bumped Sam Darnold as the quarterback scrambled toward the boundary. After Darnold went down, Seattle players closed in on Greenlaw, who had chased the play at full speed and wound up near the Seahawks’ bench area. From there, the situation got away from him.
Ernest Jones IV stepped in among the Seahawks who confronted Greenlaw, and Greenlaw responded by lowering his helmet and bumping Jones in the forehead. Jones was not wearing a helmet at the time. Several 49ers, with Fred Warner leading the way, entered the pile of blue jerseys and helped pull Greenlaw back out of the Seattle bench area.
Officials first flagged Greenlaw for a personal foul after he hit Darnold just after Darnold’s foot touched out of bounds. He was then disqualified for headbutting Jones.
Greenlaw had made three tackles before leaving the game. He entered Sunday as a major presence for San Francisco through the first four games of the season, including last week’s outing against the Denver Broncos, when he posted a season-high 12 tackles. The Broncos had released him last winter after signing him away from the 49ers with a three-year deal the previous offseason.
After that Broncos game, Greenlaw was seen shouting at Denver coach Sean Payton.
Now 29, Greenlaw is in his eighth season after the 49ers selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. He rejoined San Francisco in free agency this past offseason on a one-year, $7.5 million deal.
This wasn’t Greenlaw’s first run-in with an early exit. He was ejected from a 2023 game in Philadelphia after a sideline incident with Eagles security officer Dom DiSandro, and he was also tossed from a 2022 game against the Los Angeles Chargers for a hit on Justin Herbert. Last season, he was suspended for unsportsmanlike conduct toward an official after the NFL said he verbally threatened referee Brad Allen.
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