The 49ers were incredibly close to winning the Super Bowl last season. The team know that they need to do whatever they can to get back into the playoffs in 2024. They will have to wait for Dre Greenlaw to recover from his achilles injury before he can help the 2024 campaign.
49ers linebackers coach Johnny Holland is excited to get Greenlaw back as soon as possible. He recently spoke with the media about Greenlaw.
“Dre is always positive,” Holland said Wednesday. “Dre is always the cup is half full than empty, and I got a lot of confidence that he’ll be back full-go. And I don’t know the timeframe, but Dre is a player that stands for the 49er type of defensive player that we want. He’s a violent, physical player, but on the other side, he’s a great teammate, and we miss him being on the field. But [injuries are] part of the game, and he’ll get through it.”
The 49ers signed former Packers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell in free agency. Campbell will serve as both depth at linebacker and as the immediate fill-in option for Greenlaw while he gets healthy.
“He's been awesome,” Holland shared. “I've been watching him play for a long time, [since] he was a rookie in 2016 at Atlanta. It's his ninth year in the league now, and he's gravitating to our system. He has such good awareness in coverage and his ability to still run and play. And so we're excited about having him, and he will fit good in our system.”
Holland added that Campbell fits San Francisco's defensive scheme like a glove and will be set up to succeed right away.
“He's long and tall, and we're excited to have him,” Holland said. “He fits in good with what we do.”
Brandon Staley opens up about new role with 49ers
Brandon Staley joined the 49ers this offseason as assistant head coach/defense. He was previously the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers for almost three years.
The end of Staley's tenure in Los Angeles was ugly. Staley's calling cards as a coach are his defensive scheme and analytical approach. This became a problem for Staley and the Chargers after they spent big money to add talent on defense and still fielded one of the league's worst units. He was fired before the end of his third season after a particularly nasty 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in mid December.
Staley will work closely with head coach Kyle Shanahan to provide additional defensive perspective on the coaching staff.
Staley has noted that the “style of play is really what made (the 49ers) special” cited the lineage of successful coaches who have passed through the team in recent years. He hinted that he wants to continue to tweak his gameplans and schemes to match the talents of the players on the 49ers.
“We want to focus on the details of how we play and what we play,” Staley said. “That will take shape as we get to know our players here over the next couple of months.”
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