San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch addressed linebacker Dre Greenlaw's one-game suspension, which will sideline the veteran defender for Monday night's matchup against the Washington Commanders at Levi's Stadium.
The NFL handed Greenlaw the suspension after he headbutted Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV on the sideline. Greenlaw was wearing his helmet at the time, while Jones was not.
The incident followed Greenlaw's hit on Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold after Darnold had stepped out of bounds, prompting Seattle players to converge on the 49ers linebacker.
"I've talked with Dre a lot. We all have," Lynch said Friday morning on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "He's a big part of this family. We've gotten a huge boost in getting his energy, his passion for the way he plays the game back. I think, when you have a player like that, you're always kind of walking that line. One thing I will acknowledge, I think the league acknowledges, Dre, between the lines, he's what you want to use as an example of a guy who plays incredibly physically, incredibly well, but plays within the rules.
"He's found himself in some situations, one, with a real famous security guard in Philly. I love that guy. He's a really cool guy if you ever meet him. But he shouldn't be on the football field sticking his finger in people's faces. Now, Dre has to learn, and when you're in those situations, you've got to remove yourself, and that's hard to do when you run hot."
Greenlaw appealed the suspension, but hearing officer James Thrash, jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, upheld the punishment.
Lynch acknowledged he was unhappy with how the Seahawks players handled the sideline incident, but said Greenlaw has to show better judgment.
The 49ers must move forward without Greenlaw against Washington and find a way to compensate for his absence.
"I think there's a process that the league has," Lynch continued. "He got himself in a situation where he was on their sideline. I don't love how Seattle kind of just surrounded him, and [I] made that known to the league. But in saying that, you can't do certain things. Dre's aware of that. He took accountability for that. The league has an independent appeal system where they have these guys rule on it, and they made the ruling. We don't have to like it, but it is what it is.
"I think the most important thing is that we learn from it, that Dre learns from it because he's too good of a football player. He missed over half that game against the Seahawks, so we've already been penalized, and then we're being penalized a little more. And so, consequences sometimes, it's just like raising kids. Sometimes that has to happen.
"The league made that decision, or the appeal officer made that decision, and we got to live with it. We'll miss Dre. He's an excellent football player. He's only gone for this week, and we'll have guys step up. We're confident about that. The biggest thing is that we all learn from it, not just Dre."
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