The 49ers have been ravaged by injury throughout this young season, but they could have taken their biggest hit today. Based on Dianna Russini of The Athletic, All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner has been diagnosed with a dislocated ankle. Russini reports that Warner will meet with doctors to find out his exact prognosis, but given the character of the injury, it has the potential to be season-ending.
We saw Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin suffer an ankle dislocation about every week later into the season last 12 months, and though he had intentions to be ready for the postseason after undergoing surgery, he didn’t play one other snap that season. Godwin then needed a second procedure on his ankle that held him out for the complete offseason, training camp, and the primary three weeks of the regular season. Obviously, we will’t project this onto Warner, whose details are usually not yet known, but Godwin’s recent example serves as a possible consequence for any such injury.
Regardless of how long the absence is, unless the 28-year-old comes back two weeks from now, that is uncharted territory for Warner. Since getting drafted by San Francisco within the third round back in 2018, Warner has appeared and commenced in every possible game apart from one. While the four-time All-Pro could have his own latest challenges to tackle over a potentially prolonged absence, the 49ers’ uncharted territory of fielding a defense for multiple games without Warner poses other serious challenges.
Warner’s backup at middle linebacker is Tatum Bethune. A seventh-round pick of Florida State last 12 months, Bethune spent his rookie 12 months almost exclusively on special teams. Lively for 11 games, he only appeared on the sphere for 12 defensive snaps before starting San Francisco’s season finale. This 12 months has been more of the identical for the 24-year-old; after appearing in three defensive snaps in Week 1, Bethune has been all special teams before today.
On the very least, Warner will find yourself adding to an injury report that featured 18 other players this week for the 49ers. If the injury finally ends up being as serious because it looked, Warner may very well be the twelfth Niner placed on injured reserve this season. He would join such stars on the IR as pass rusher Nick Bosa and tight end George Kittle, with more starters like quarterback Brock Purdy and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall merely sporting “out” designations on the injury report.
While the injury suffered by Warner today looked bad, no determinations have been made on the severity of his ankle injury. Over again is learned, San Francisco will have the ability to formulate a plan for return. Until then, they’ll proceed to do as they’ve been doing, fielding the following man up and counting on their depth to place themselves in nearly as good a position to win as possible.