49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw is not participating in the team’s organized team activities as he works his way back from thumb surgery.
Greenlaw said he underwent a minor procedure after last season.
“Yeah, nothing major,” Greenlaw said Thursday on KNBR’s Papa & Lund show, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “Just a little clean up in the thumb. [It] was giving me some problems, just whenever I was punching at the ball or whenever I had to use my hands on O-linemen. [My] finger was just really jammed up, so I just had to get it cleaned up and fixed.
“It’s going really well right now, so I’m just waiting, I guess. Now, I think they’re going to keep me out of OTAs for the most part, just because you don’t want any setbacks right now. But it’s going really well.”
The 49ers have a new defensive coordinator in Steve Wilks, the third defensive coordinator Greenlaw has had since the team made him a fifth-round draft pick in 2019. Wilks, though, is expected to make only minor tweaks to the defense since the 49ers had the top-ranked unit last year.
Greenlaw is hoping one of those changes is letting him rush the passer more. He has only two career sacks, the most recent of which came in 2020.
“I do hope so,” Greenlaw said. “I talked to him as well, and just based off what we’ve been doing, there’s going to be a lot of ways that he’s going to be able to just match us up on running backs. And whether he’s calling it, whether we’re hug-rushing the running back, or whatever it is that he’s calling, but he’s definitely going to be sending us a lot more.
“So that should be fun. So hopefully, we can get some more sacks this year, for sure.”