Niners linebacker Fred Warner is carted off the field during the first half of Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla. An examination found he suffered a dislocated ankle that will require season-ending surgery.
Jason Behnken/Associated Press
Yeah, the San Francisco 49ers lost a game. But they lost so, so much more.
The 49ers fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, 30-19. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield continued his MVP campaign and his team stayed atop the NFC rankings, while the 49ers took a step backward.
But it was difficult to compare the final outcome to the far most significant loss, which came midway through the first quarter. Fred Warner went down when teammate Ji’Ayir Brown rolled up on Warner’s ankle. The resulting injury was so gruesome that CBS opted not to show a replay of the play. A cart came out on the field. An air cast went onto Warner’s leg. The entire 49ers team and head coach Kyle Shanahan came out to wish the ailing All-Pro linebacker well.
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Warner, according to reports, went directly to the imaging room and then spent the rest of the game in the locker room. After the game, Shanahan confirmed that Warner suffered a dislocated ankle that will require season-ending surgery.
“It’s obviously a huge blow,” Shanahan said.
The most important position on a football team is quarterback. Few would debate that. But the most important player on the 49ers is Fred Warner.
Warner is the 49ers’ fire and heart. Their defensive brain and conscience. He breaks down the team before the game. He organizes the defense. He flies around the field like a man possessed. And after the game he stands at the podium and gives a clear-eyed view of what just happened and what his team needs.
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Other players may get more money and more accolades. But Warner has been the 49ers’ most transformative player, since the moment he stepped on the field in 2018 as a rookie third-round draft pick. Back then, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh recognized Warner as one of the smartest young players he ever had coached and gave him the green dot, signaling that he was entrusted with relaying all the defensive play calls on the field. Seven seasons later, Warner is the player who makes the defense — and the entire team — go.
The 49ers, to their credit, put up a fight after Warner left the field. Football is an insane test of human emotion and resilience: see a beloved teammate carted off the field with a horrible injury and be asked to immediately go back out and throw your body at the opposition.
“I’m sure they were crushed,” Shanahan said. “But that’s football. Everyone has a job to do.”
After Warner left the field, his defense forced a punt, in an admirable rally. But the stand couldn’t last: the defense gave up two more touchdowns in the second quarter. The last one came on busted coverage that CBS analyst Tony Romo pinpointed was the result of the absence of Warner’s savvy and vocal leadership.
The Bucs had another second-half touchdown drive highlighted by a 15-yard Mayfield scramble on a 3rd-and-14 play on which he looked like vintage Steve Young and broke about four 49ers tackles. You have to think that had Warner been on the field, he would have made a tackle to prevent the first down.
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Before the game began in the late Florida afternoon, all three of the 49ers division rivals had already finished playing. While Arizona continued its spiral, losing its fourth straight, both the Rams and the Seahawks won. That means that the 49ers are back in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC West, all with 4-2 records, though the 49ers are obviously in the driver’s seat because of sweeping that first round of divisional matchups.
But now general manager John Lynch has some serious decisions to make. Lynch has been honest about trying to pursue a trade to fill injured pass-rusher Nick Bosa’s role. Does the potential season-ending loss of Warner change that thinking in any way? Does it change what position they target? Change the level of urgency? Can a trade really save a Warner-less defense?
The 49ers made an intentional decision to go young and pare payroll in the offseason. Despite their hot start, they are still not in a Super Bowl-or-bust mentality. For his part, Shanahan said he’s only interested in something that can “help us get better this year without hurting us next year.” Which sounds decidedly more conservative than “we’re going all in.” And he said that before losing Warner.
Injuries happen: just look at how decimated Tampa Bay’s roster has been this season. And, so far, the 49ers have done a remarkable job of overcoming injuries. They’ve been resilient, gotten great coaching and played their hearts out, despite seeing their most important players fall, one after another, after another.
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At some point though, there is a tipping point. There is one loss that simply becomes too much to bear. And losing your team’s heart could be the one.