Dre Greenlaw found himself in familiar territory after the league suspended him for one game following his headbutting incident against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The NFL had suspended him last season as well. It’s safe to say the San Francisco 49ers linebacker has established himself as an extremely aggressive, emotional, and intense player who brings energy to the team but can take things too far.

That’s exactly what happened on Sunday, as the linebacker is now facing the consequences. At the same time, however, it raises a question from a head coach’s perspective: Should a coach allow this kind of behavior because of the aggression and energy it brings, or should they take action when a player goes too far? NFL analyst Brian Baldinger recently addressed the issue and shared his thoughts.

“Dre plays with an edge, and he plays on the edge, and he has always gone over the edge,” said Baldinger. “That’s who he is. If I’m a coach, I don’t want the penalty. I don’t want to hurt somebody on the sideline, but I want Dre on the field. I want that aggressiveness on the field like it’s contagious. Dre, he just has a contagious energy to him.

“The week before against Denver, he’s got a contagious energy, and so there’s nothing better than just getting a whole group of people riled up about anything. He’s just the ringleader to it. And so somebody’s got to just go poke the bear and have no fear about it. I feel like that’s Dre feels like it’s his personality. It’s how he plays. You can see Fred trying to calm that stuff. Fred plays the same way, right on the edge. He just rarely ever goes over the edge.”

Baldinger certainly admires Greenlaw’s fiery personality and aggressive playing style. But at the same time, it’s worth noting that it has become a problem for the 29-year-old linebacker.

Earlier this month, during the Week 4 matchup against the Denver Broncos, Greenlaw was spotted yelling at the Broncos’ sideline and head coach Sean Payton. Later, he admitted that he was mad at Coach Payton for not personally informing him of his release from the Broncos.

The league, however, fined him $11,941 for taunting and offensive language.

Just a week later, he found himself in trouble once again. In the second quarter against the Seahawks, with about 6 minutes remaining in the first half, quarterback Sam Darnold scrambled for a few yards and went out of bounds. San Francisco was leading 14-10 at the time.

Greenlaw, meanwhile, was flagged for a late hit on Darnold. While the refs certainly penalized him for a 15-yard penalty, things escalated when the Seahawks’ players surrounded Greenlaw, including Earnest Jones IV, who wasn’t wearing a helmet. Both players confronted each other, prompting Greenlaw to hit helmet-less Jones in the face.

Ultimately, the officials ejected Greenlaw from the game.

“No, not at all. I didn’t totally see it, I was told,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. “But that’s how it is. You’re going to get baited big time, especially when you’re on their bench. They’re going to get close, and they told me that he head-butted a guy without a helmet. So, if that’s exactly what happened then we got to be a lot smarter than that. Can’t do that.”

Subsequently, the league suspended Dre Greenlaw for one game. For now, the 29-year-old is uncertain to start against the Washington Commanders next week. However, Greenlaw is reportedly appealing his suspension. That said, it remains to be seen whether the 49ers will play against the Commanders with or without their linebacker.