San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner admitted Wednesday that he has been playing through a significant injury for the last two months.
Warner told reporters that he suffered a fractured ankle in the team’s Week 4 game against the New England Patriots on Sept. 29. Despite this, Warner has not missed a game, and has received painkiller injections for every game since in order to stay on the field.
Fred Warner just revealed that he’s been playing on a fractured ankle. It occurred during that game against the Patriots. He’s been injected with painkillers before every game since
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) November 27, 2024
Under many circumstances, a fractured ankle is likely to keep a player on the sideline for weeks, if not months. In contrast, Warner has played seven full games on it. It is a tribute to his ability that one wouldn’t even have noticed the injury, as Warner has turned in plenty of good performances, including a span of 25 total tackles over a three-week stretch against Kansas City, Dallas, and Tampa Bay.
On the other hand, this sums up the Niners’ injury issues, which are arguably worse than ever. They have not been anything close to fully healthy at any point all season. It is quite remarkable that they are still in the playoff race at 5-6, and one has to wonder if Warner will be shut down in the coming weeks if they wind up falling away from the rest of the pack.
