The quarterback of the 49ers’ defense sounds confident that he’ll be back for the team’s Divisional Round trip to Green Bay. Fred Warner suffered a scary ankle injury in the second half of the 23-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys and did not return.
He took to Twitter on Monday to say, “we’ll be good to go” indicating that he expects to play against the Packers.
Despite the obvious agony that Warner was in at the time of the injury, he remained walking around the sidelines for the rest of the game and eventually watched with his helmet still on, never going into the locker room.
Kyle Shanahan said after the game that Warner re-aggravated the ankle sprain he suffered earlier this season.
Warner missed the first game of his career earlier this season, in the 49ers’ Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but that was due to a hamstring strain.
He sustained the ankle sprain in the first half of the Week 14 overtime win against the Cincinnati Bengals, but played the rest of the second half with the injury. He hasn’t missed any time due to that injury and Shanahan confirmed then that it was not a high ankle sprain.
One major disadvantage here for the 49ers is the Saturday game, providing one less day than normal for recovery. That could prove a greater problem for Nick Bosa clearing concussion protocol than for Warner. The Packers have obviously had a bye week to rest.
But given his borderline impeccable health record and propensity to play through pain, it’s completely reasonable to believe Warner could return for Saturday’s game, especially given the stakes.