The 49ers won’t have linebacker Dre Greenlaw for Monday night’s game against the Commanders.
The NFL has announced that hearing officer James Thrash, a former NFL receiver, has upheld the one-game suspension imposed Monday on Greenlaw.
During the second quarter of Sunday’s game between the 49ers and Seahawks, Greenlaw applied a head butt to Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV. Greenlaw was wearing a helmet; Jones was not.
Greenlaw was ejected. It was his third ejection since 2022. Last year, he was suspended for one game for his behavior toward referee Brad Allen after a game between the Giants and Broncos, Greenlaw’s team in 2025.
Greenlaw will forfeit $136,388 in base salary for the game. He’ll also lose a $23,529 active roster bonus. The 49ers could be able to seek partial repayment of his $2.5 million signing bonus, too.
The lost reps also will make it harder for Greenlaw to earn a $750,000 incentive based on 75-percent playing time for the season. If earned, the amount doubles if the 49ers make the playoffs.
Commanders Clips
Micah Parsons still isn’t ready to play after last year’s knee injury, but he still knows how to mix things up.
Parsons recently said on his podcast, The Edge with Micah Parsons, that quarterback Jayden Daniels is to blame for the game-clock clusterfudge at the end of overtime in the Giants-Commanders game.
“Jayden Daniels probably cost my man Dan Quinn his job, to be honest with you,” Parsons said, via Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic. “To be honest with you. And, like, I’m a big Jayden Daniels fan. But the reality is, he probably cost a lot of people their jobs this past weekend. . . .
“All respectfully, we get coached so much on these situations that, like, I’m a defensive player, and this shit’s programmed to me. I even know what to do in those situations. There’s no way I’m taking a sack with 14 seconds left and no timeouts. . . . And, mind you, it’d be different if Jayden Daniels was a rookie. This is your third year. This is your third year. You’ve been to the NFC Championship game. You’ve been in big moments before. And to me, like even after a sack, you’re casually getting up.”
Parsons made it clear that, in his view, quarterbacks are expected to always know what’s going on.
“This is your job, bro,” Parsons said. “This is your job to be prepared to understand the game and understand situations. That’s in your job profile. And you’re telling me, ‘Oh, we’re gonna want to pay this guy eventually $60 million? This cannot happen. . . . I’m a big JD5 fan, but that’s inexcusable, bro.”
Parsons said that the Packers work on situational football “every day,” What happened at the end of the Giants-Commanders game should have required no discussion, frankly.
“This is a lack of preparation, a lack of mentality, and a lack of urgency,” Parsons said. “That just can’t happen.”
Parsons isn’t wrong. The fact that it did happen raises plenty of questions about the level of preparation and attention to detail, as created by the coaching staff. It speaks to potential cultural flaws, perhaps one in which Daniels hasn’t been challenged or held as accountable as he could have or should have been, given his standing in the organization.
It would be a lot easier to make sense of all of this if the Commanders had recorded and preserved the relevant communications. And Daniels surely will face even more questions on this topic the next time he speaks to reporters.
The fact that the outcome was so bizarre, so jarring, and so downright surreal becomes a horrible moment for everyone involved. As to the ultimate consequences, Parsons hit the nail on the head — Daniels’s failure to take charge of the situation in the moment will probably cost Quinn his job.
But Daniels will continue to be the starting quarterback because, even if he made an inexcusable mistake as to one of the easiest parts of the job, he does the hard parts better than most of his peers.
The problem with everyone taking the blame for a colossal clock-management blunder is that, if everyone is Spartacus, it’s impossible to know who’s truly at fault.
As to the end of the Giants-Commanders game, coach Dan Quinn has taken the blame — and quarterback Jayden Daniels has taken the blame. Presumably, offensive coordinator David Blough will take the blame, too, the next time he speaks to reporters.
So who’s truly to blame?
On Tuesday’s edition of PFT Live, Chris Simms suggested that Daniels may have been told to throw the ball away on the last snap the Commanders took. If he had, the clock would have stopped and the Commanders would have had time to kick a potential game-winning field goal. If that’s the case, it seems logical that there will be reporting from unnamed sources that the internal review came to that conclusion. (And, again, it would have been easier to get to the bottom of it if the Commanders had recorded and preserved all in-game communications.)
Here’s another possibility, one that has a historical example. In 2008, after a 13-13 final score between the Eagles and Bengals, Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb admitted that he didn’t know a regular-season game could end in a tie. He wasn’t alone; other players on the Eagles’ roster didn’t realize the game ended when the overtime period expired.
Said McNabb at the time, who was in his tenth NFL season: “In college, there are multiple overtimes, and in high school and Pop Warner. I never knew in the professional ranks it would end that way. I hate to see what would happen in the Super Bowl and in the playoffs.”
Eighteen years later, could it have been déjà vu all over again? Is it possible Daniels’s lack of urgency in the final seconds of overtime resulted from the fact that he didn’t know the game would be over when the clock struck zero?
Given the Eagles’ widespread lack of awareness as to the overtime rules in 2008 — which had been in place unchanged for 34 years — is it crazy to think Daniels and possibly other players didn’t know? Likewise, is it beyond the realm of possibility that Blough, who is the same age now as McNabb was then, didn’t know? (Blough absolutely should be asked that question, just in case.)
Giants safety Jevon Holland said this after the game: “I mean, even when the clock ran to zero, there was a second where I was like, ‘Is it going to go to the second overtime?’ I don’t know if it was two overtimes or not. I’ve never been in an overtime tie like this.”
That makes it a fair question to ask, of Daniels and other members of the offense. Did he, and others, think that once the time ran out, the teams would change ends and the game would continue?
While hardly an acceptable explanation, it would make the complete lack of urgency as the seconds ticked away a little more understandable.
When a plane crashes, the “black box” preserves all evidence regarding the cockpit conversations. When an NFL team has an inexplicable failure of coaching, is there a way to go back and listen to how it all happened?
While some teams may preserve that data, the Commanders do not.
Coach Dan Quinn was asked that specific question on Monday, one day after a disastrous failure to manage the final seconds of overtime against the Giants.
“We don’t do specifically that,” Quinn said. “We do a writeup and then go back and review conversations, situations, the film, and the R&D department goes along with that. As far as the communications go, I want to make sure that’s up for me, you know, at the top, this is what’s happening. This is what we need to get done. And we’ll continue to work really hard on that. We have definitely ways to simulate it. That’s one way that we have, and we’ll continue to do.”
It would make sense to preserve the headset communications, if only for the benefit of ownership to get to the raw and undeniable facts at a time when folks may be looking for ways to cover their butts.
Of course, if owner Josh Harris was on the sideline during games, he’d have first-hand evidence as to what transpired. Which is what Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon does, even though some feel compelled to criticize her for it.
For the owners who aren’t on the sideline, preserving those communications should be a no-brainer. If they aren’t already doing it, adopting that system could be the equivalent of all teams incorporating victory formation after the disastrous Joe Pisarcik moment from 1978.
The 49ers are going to be down another wide receiver in the coming weeks.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Deebo Samuel will be out of the lineup for an indefinite period of time after injuring his hamstring in Sunday’s 32-29 win over the Seahawks.
“Got it pretty good, so he’s gonna miss some time,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com.
Samuel had two catches for 21 yards and two carries for four yards on Sunday. Brandin Cooks, Jacob Cowing, and Jordan Watkins are the receiver options to join Mike Evans on the field with Samuel out of action.
Shanahan had more hopeful news about defensive end Nick Bosa. Bosa has missed the last three games with a calf injury, but Shanahan said that he has “a chance” of being back on the field in Week 6. The 49ers host the Commanders next Monday night.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who remains employed on Monday, met with reporters for his press conference one day after the most recent game. And the most recent game, a 27-27 tie with the Giants, ended with the worst example of clock management in recent years, if not ever.
Quinn began with an opening statement that addressed the woolly mammoth in the mudroom.
“Well, I spoke with the team and with the coaches today, and honestly just like furious about our execution in the crucial moments of the game,” Quinn told reporters. “We work really hard on these, and it didn’t look like that yesterday. And [I’m] pissed about it.
“So I’ll take you through overtime. We wanted to use some clock after getting into field goal range. There has been four kicks that had been missed in the game. So burning some time is the smart call, as you kick near the end of the game.
“About 56 seconds, we handed off to Rachaad White, and it took entirely too long from there on to execute our strategy, from subbing to clock awareness to clocking [the] ball. And when I told the team, and with the coach— like, it was a breakdown. It can’t happen. And our time today as a team was spent on the how and the why and make sure that it never does again. So, yesterday’s ending was the biggest example, but we’ve got a lot of shit to clean up on from yesterday’s game, and trust me, everyone in this building started with me feels that urgency.”
During the question-and-answer phase of the press conference, Quinn was asked whether he has spoken to ownership and whether he’s concerned about his job.
“I do know how the league goes,” Quinn said. “I’m well aware of that. [Owner] Josh [Harris] and I, we talk regularly before games, after games, after good games, after tough games, and that’s a normal process for us. And, trust me, no one is pleased with this outcome and where we’re at. The part that we do have, those hard conversations, we’re honest about where we’re at and what we need to fix and what we need to work on. And so I like having that communication with him.”
Implicit in that response is that Quinn has spoken to Harris, that Harris wasn’t pleased (as he shouldn’t have been), and that Harris did not and won’t be firing him, at least for now.
As to the surreal tick-ticking of the clock at the play that began with 55 seconds on the clock and that resulted in the next play beginning with 12 seconds left, Quinn was specifically concerned about the time required to make substitutions and get the play that was called by offensive coordinator David Blough started.
“If you execute it quickly,” Quinn said, “then you can get back on the ball and clock it. So the execution of subbing and the slowness of that to go is entirely too long. Hindsight, don’t sub, we can get back on the ball with the same group, and do the same outcome. But it wasn’t anything unorthodox or unusual, our execution as an entire group in that [55] seconds down to when we weren’t able to get it clocked. That’s not the play selection, but yet the execution of all of it.”
He’s correct, but he continues to speak about the situation as if he wasn’t standing on the sideline. He was there. He was in position to override whatever was happening. To hit the kill switch on the artificial, I mean, super intelligence. By all appearances, Quinn did nothing other than act as a passive observer.
He later was asked whether the moment will define the season for the Commander.
“I don’t catastrophize things, but I do want to make sure that I don’t minimize things, either,” Quinn said. “And there are plenty of things for us to improve upon in this game, and not just, you know, the last play. And so, I want to make sure I’m always emphasizing that to the team, about what we’re capable of, what we need to work on, but by no small margin . . . it was the execution, man. And that’s what I want us as players and coaches to absolutely drill down, nail it, because you have this bad taste in your mouth . . . and you want it, like, in our team meeting today, we laid out the plan of how to go play our best at San Francisco. So I do want to make sure I’m expressing what we’re teaching, but at the same time, you know, also point to what we need to get done.”
What would Quinn say to the fans that have lost confidence in him as the head coach?
“I’m just as pissed, too,” Quinn said. “Like, this is a really hard loss, man. And I have a lot of faith in who we are as an organization, ownership, coaching, players, so I’m very much looking forward to get back on the field Monday night.”
Of course he is. The only way to put Sunday’s debacle behind him will be to beat the 49ers. Who are led by Kyle Shanahan. Who was Quinn’s offensive coordinator during the 28-3 debacle in Super Bowl LI, which happened in large part due to another example of Quinn not being able to properly manage the game clock in real time.
Another loss, especially a blowout, could end up being Quinn’s final act as head coach of the Commanders — especially with the Commanders’ bye coming in Week 7.
As of now, 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw is not eligible to play in San Francisco’s Week 6 game against Washington on Monday night.
Greenlaw hopes to change that.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Greenlaw is appealing his one-game suspension that was handed down on Monday after the linebacker headbutted Seattle’s Ernest Jones on the sideline during Sunday’s game.
Greenlaw was ejected from the contest for his actions.
This is Greenlaw’s second one-game suspension in as many seasons, as he was given one last year for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Greenlaw’s appeal is slated to be heard by one of the NFL and NFLPA’s jointly appointed officers: Derrick Brooks, Jordy Nelson, Ron Rivera, or James Thrash.
Most coaches in the NFL either have been fired or will be fired. Dan Quinn has been fired (by the Falcons) and he undoubtedly will be fired again (by the Commanders).
For now, the Commanders haven’t fired him.
Some have suggested that Sunday’s colossal blunder seals Quinn’s fate at the end of the year. Properly functioning organizations, however, will implement the decision as soon as it’s made, if only to begin the process of searching for the next coach. Really, what’s the point of prolonging the situation?
In this case specifically, any effort by Quinn to turn a 1-3-1 season into a playoff berth will be complicated by the task of getting the locker room to do anything other than roll their eyes when the time comes to listen to Quinn. The sooner the organization turns the page on the person responsible for the worst ending to a game since the Joe Pisarcik moment in 1978, the sooner the team can move on.
There’s a dotted line back to Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn’s last game with the Seahawks. While he wasn’t there for the aftermath of the fateful decision to throw the ball at the goal line, Pete Carroll dealt with the fumes of costing the Legion of Boom its “dynasty” label for years. Quinn, who has only weeks to work with, will have a very hard time burying this one.
The issue won’t go away quickly. It will be the topic of the week in D.C. Quinn will be asked about it again. Quarterback Jayden Daniels will be asked about it again. Offensive coordinator David Blough — who has yet to receive nearly as much blame as he should — will be asked about it. Other players will be asked about it.
Come next Monday, when the Commanders play the 49ers in Santa Clara, it will be a focal point of the ESPN pregame show. It will be mentioned once or twice (or more often) throughout the call of the game.
Can Quinn turn it around? The 2017 Falcons made it to the playoffs, after the 28-3 debacle in Super Bowl LI. But Quinn and the Falcons had an entire offseason with which to process their meltdown. For the Commanders, the next train is already on the tracks.
The bye is looming after next Monday night. Could ownership decide to give Quinn a chance to right the ship in San Francisco? Could an embarrassment next week be the final straw?
The problem is that the ultimate embarrassment has already unfolded. While stranger things have happened, it’s hard to imagine Quinn and the Commanders quickly putting this behind them. The process can’t even begin until Quinn finds a way to pull the locker room together again.
How can he do that? The players will be grumbling about this one deep into the coming workweek. Or possibly all the way through Monday and into the week off. What can he say to them to get them to understand how and why it happened?
He can continue to take the blame, but there’s no honor in acknowledging the obvious. He’ll need to find a way to get them to accept the fact that he made a mistake that never should have been made, and to persuade them to believe that the team is in good hands, notwithstanding Sunday’s events.
Maybe an “us against the world” approach will emerge. The problem is that, in this case, the world is right. And the only way to make things right in Washington’s world will be for the team to deliver the clearest, strongest message of accountability by relieving the person responsible for the situation of his duties.
The aftermath of Sunday’s overtime disaster from the Commanders will resonate for the remainder of the 2026 season, and perhaps beyond. Especially because it forced the players to answer for the malpractice of the coaches.
And it was malpractice. First and 10 from the Giants’ 26 with 55 seconds to play and no timeouts. A run, followed by a lackadaisical effort to start the next play, which began with 12 seconds left.
Then came another run, with no individual or collective awareness that the precious few remaining seconds of overtime were slipping away.
Coach Dan Quinn, who was ultimately responsible for the debacle, answered for it after the game. Quarterback Jayden Daniels, who could have recognized what was happening and thrown the ball into the dirt to kill the clock, answered for it, too.
Plenty of other players had to answer for something that wasn’t their fault.
Tight end Ben Sinnott, for example, was caught in an awkward spot when pressed for details in the locker room after the game.
“I run onto the field,” Sinnott said, via Scott Abraham of 7 News DC. “I get the play call and we execute the play.”
Did Sinnott know the Commanders were out of timeouts?
“Exactly how it went, right as I said,” Sinnott replied. “No comment.”
No comment is needed. It was objectively awful. This is the NFL, not Pop Warner. And it was a division game in the NFC East. The Commanders had a chance to kick a potential game-winning field goal, and they froze up. They glitched. They handled the situation as poorly as they could have handled it.
I know it sounds harsh, but Quinn should not be employed at this time tomorrow. Only clear and unequivocal accountability will wash the stench of what happened on Sunday away. Any other outcome will cause the confusion, the doubt, and the resentment to linger.
Former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn is the running backs coach. Put him in charge and give him a chance to earn the job for 2027. Whether the players will admit it — to themselves or to anyone else — they’ll be checking out, consciously or not, when it comes to anything Quinn has to say moving forward.
And Daniels isn’t blameless, either. Yes, he’s a potential franchise quarterback. But true franchise quarterbacks overcome random acts of dysfunction. When the coaching staff fails, the franchise quarterback finds a way to protect the franchise.
Daniels’s failure to take charge of the situation potentially disqualifies him from holding the title of “franchise quarterback,” and it could make it even harder for him to ever earn it, in the eyes of his teammates.
The 5-0 49ers had to play without linebacker Dre Greenlaw for more than two quarters. Next Monday night against the Commanders, they could be missing him for all four quarters.
Greenlaw’s ejection for head-butting Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (who wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time) could result in a suspension.
The NFL will review the situation on Monday for potential discipline. And that discipline could include preventing Greenlaw from playing in Week 6.
The play itself was inherently unsafe. While not the same as the time when then-Browns defensive end Myles Garrett struck still-Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with his own helmet, striking someone who isn’t wearing a helmet in the head with a helmet should be a bright line, when it comes to discipline.
Then there’s Greenlaw’s history. He has now been ejected three times. In 2022, Greenlaw was sent to the showers prematurely for an illegal hit on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. In 2023, Greenlaw was tossed after a sideline incident that first introduced a national audience to the legend known widely as Big Dom.
Last year, Greenlaw was suspended for one game, as a result of his post-game interactions with referee Brad Allen following a game between the Giants and the Broncos, for whom Greenlaw played in 2025. And, just last week, Greenlaw had some harsh post-game words for Denver coach Sean Payton after a Broncos-49ers game. (Greenlaw was fined for taunting during the game.)
If a suspension will be imposed, it likely will happen on Monday. An expedited appeal would follow.
