Kyle Shanahan on Dre Greenlaw: "We'll put him on offense if he really wants to run with the ball that bad"
Immediately after Jordan Love did his best Brett Favre impression late in Saturday night's game, Dre Greenlaw tried to play the role of Marlon McCree.
The 49ers linebacker made a game clinching interception as the Packers were driving, down by three. Greenlaw caught the ball on the ground with 46 seconds left. He didn't stay down.
Greenlaw got up. Greenlaw started running with the ball. He ran with the ball for 12 seconds, going left and then right and at one point disappearing from the Fox cameras while he continued to stay on his feet.
Coach Kyle Shanahan was asked after the game whether he was yelling at Greenlaw to go down.
"Oh yeah," Shanahan said, "I was."
Near the end of the play, at the Green Bay 40, Packers receiver Jayden Reed had a shot at stripping the ball from Greenlaw.
"We'll put him on offense if he really wants to run with the ball that bad," Shanahan said. "He could definitely get down a lot sooner."
Despite the risk of a fumble that Greenlaw assumed, the fact that he got the clock under 40 seconds guaranteed the win, since the Packers had only two timeouts. Green Bay didn't bother to take either of them, since three knees from quarterback Brock Purdy would have ended it.
Still, the risk wasn't worth the reward. If Greenlaw had fumbled and the Packers had recovered and eventually won the game, Greenlaw would have gone from one of the heroes of the weekend to the hands-down goat.
