Updated October 12, 2:50 p.m. EDT: Dre Greenlaw is appealing the suspension, Ian Rapoport reported.
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw is fighting the one-game suspension the NFL handed him on Monday, Ian Rapoport reported, less than half an hour after the league announced the penalty for his headbutt on a helmetless Ernest Jones IV in Seattle.
If the ban stands, Greenlaw will sit out the unbeaten 49ers’ Monday night home game against the Washington Commanders on October 19 and forfeit that week’s pay. Neither the team nor Greenlaw had commented on the appeal by mid-afternoon, and no hearing date had been made public.
Dre Greenlaw is appealing, source says. https://t.co/78UmSLvMx2
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 12, 2026
How the appeal works
The collective bargaining agreement gives Greenlaw the right to contest the decision. Tom Pelissero noted that the case will be decided by one of four hearing officers whom the league and the players’ union appoint and pay jointly: former players Jordy Nelson, Derrick Brooks and James Thrash, and former head coach Ron Rivera. Whichever of them takes the case decides it.
In its announcement, the league said the contact broke the sportsmanship clause of the playing rules (Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1) and stressed that Jones had no helmet on when Greenlaw struck him. If the suspension is upheld, Greenlaw can return to the active roster on Tuesday, October 20, the day after the Washington game.
Mike Garafolo posted the league’s full statement:
Full release on Dre Greenlaw’s suspension, which can be appealed. https://t.co/sTywNXiLHZ pic.twitter.com/hYb5JqNbWo
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 12, 2026
The trouble started when Greenlaw chased Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold out of bounds in front of the Seahawks’ bench and was flagged for a late hit. Several Seattle players confronted him, Jones among them with his helmet already off, and Greenlaw lunged forward and butted him. San Francisco led 14-10 with 6:04 left in the first half. Greenlaw had three tackles before officials sent him to the locker room. Our report from Sunday covers the ejection in detail.
A 5-0 team without a key veteran
The 49ers held on without him. Eddy Pineiro’s 44-yard field goal with 1:56 left gave San Francisco a 32-29 victory, and the 49ers remain unbeaten at 5-0. Seattle fell to 3-2. Our recap has the full story of the game, and the box score is on the Game Center.
It was the second regular-season ejection of Greenlaw’s career. The first came on December 3, 2023, in Philadelphia, after a sideline run-in with Eagles security chief Dom DiSandro, who was also removed from the field that day.
What comes next
The appeal decision will settle whether Greenlaw faces the Commanders at home on Monday, October 19, at 8:15 p.m. EDT. The Seahawks have a short week before their trip to the Denver Broncos on Thursday, October 15, at 8:15 p.m. EDT.
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