For Dre Greenlaw, the San Francisco 49ers' loss in Super Bowl LVIII brought additional pain with it. Along with the team's 25-22 overtime defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, the linebacker suffered a significant Achilles injury that will delay the start of his regular season.
Thinking back on Super Bowl Sunday only reopens the wound a bit, Greenlaw said.
"Sometimes you get a little flashback and shed a couple of tears thinking about it," Greenlaw told NBC Sports Bay Area last week in his first public comments since the Super Bowl.
Greenlaw sat out the Week 18 game against the Rams and was listed on the playoff injury report with an Achilles injury in his right leg but came through with a two-interception performance in the 49ers' Divisional Round win over the Packers and had his team on the cusp of a championship.
But Greenlaw made it only 12 plays into the Super Bowl when he suffered the freak, non-contact injury in his left leg while coming onto the field. He had surgery on his torn Achilles four days after San Francisco's defeat and is currently three months into a projected nine-month recovery.
"It's definitely an emotional thing because you know how hard you worked for that moment, how hard your team worked to get in that moment," Greenlaw said. "You're that close to it and you can't go out there and compete. So it just kind of feels like you left everybody hanging.
"So it's one of the things that you just kind of think about and you just try not to cry."
Greenlaw believes overcompensating for his right leg helped spur the injury in his left leg. He doesn't believe the soft practice surface at the UNLV facilities, which the 49ers used for practice in the run-up to the Super Bowl, helped his health, but Greenlaw doesn't believe it was the reason he got hurt either.
"My right Achilles was already in pain that whole month, so I wouldn't say necessarily that (the practice field) was the cause of it," he said. "It probably didn't help. (The grass) was pretty soft. For me, I don't really pay attention to the field, other than if it has holes in it or (if) I'm slipping. If it's not one of those two, I feel like I can battle any field."
49ers general manager John Lynch recently said Greenlaw likely will open the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, which would keep him out a minimum of the first four games of the regular season.
The 49ers appear to be gearing up for a title run again and can be patient with his return. Greenlaw indicated that he doesn't know yet when that return to the field will be, but his mind and body -- along with team doctors -- will let him know when the time is right.
"When I feel like I can go out there and I really contribute and bring everything I got, I'm just going to do that every game," he said. "I don't know if it's going to be two, three, five, six, eight or 10 (games). But when I do get the opportunity, I'm just going to play like it's the Super Bowl every game."
