{"id":122544,"date":"2026-01-06T20:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122544\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T20:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:01:23","slug":"shanahan-shares-tough-injury-news-ahead-of-playoffs-fred-warner-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122544\/","title":{"rendered":"Shanahan shares tough injury news ahead of playoffs, Fred Warner update"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers are gearing up to face the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field after dropping to the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff standings following a Week 18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters during a Monday conference call, sharing key injury updates as the 49ers prepare for their Wild Card matchup against Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

49ers linebacker depth takes a hit<\/p>\n

Linebacker Tatum Bethune<\/a>, who suffered a groin tear against the Seahawks, has already been ruled out for the playoffs. Eric Kendricks<\/a> is expected to fill in at the position.<\/p>\n

When asked if Bethune’s injury will require surgery, Shanahan said, “Possibly. They haven’t decided yet.”<\/p>\n

Shanahan expressed confidence in Kendrick’s ability to step in for Bethune.<\/p>\n

“He’s been here long enough,” the coach said. “These games he’s gotten in, in the last couple of weeks, he’s done a good job of, and I’m glad that we got him for this situation.”<\/p>\n

Linebackers Dee Winters<\/a> (ankle) and Luke Gifford<\/a> (quad) will be evaluated later this week, leaving San Francisco potentially short-handed at the linebacker spot for the Wild Card game.<\/p>\n

Brock Purdy update<\/p>\n

Quarterback Brock Purdy<\/a>, who suffered a shoulder stinger at the end of Saturday night’s game, has been evaluated and cleared, and he is expected to be full-go this week.<\/p>\n

“Brock checked out good,” Shanahan said.<\/p>\n

Other 49ers post-game injury updates<\/p>\n

Defensive end Keion White<\/a>, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, will be evaluated throughout the week.<\/p>\n

Safety Ji’Ayir Brown<\/a> is day-to-day with a rib injury, while defensive tackle Kalia Davis<\/a> is day-to-day due to knee tendinitis.<\/p>\n

Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall news<\/p>\n

Two key players who did not play against Seattle\u2014tackle Trent Williams<\/a> (hamstring) and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall<\/a>\u2014will be closely monitored throughout the week. Shanahan noted that Pearsall aggravated his previous PCL injury last week.<\/p>\n

“He re-aggravated it, which, whether that looks like a setback or\u2014I mean, I guess it’s not a setback,” Shanahan said. “It’s just he re-aggravated it, which is usually what happens with PCLs.”<\/p>\n

Will Fred Warner return?<\/p>\n

Shanahan also addressed linebacker Fred Warner<\/a>‘s status. Warner, who suffered a dislocated and fractured right ankle in Week 6, could still return if the 49ers advance to the NFC Championship Game. However, even with a deep playoff run, his return is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s too far off right now,” Shanahan said. “I think it is a possibility, as we get closer to a possible third game here\u2014a championship game. But it’s not something we’re thinking about right now.”<\/p>\n

A 49ers wide receiver gears up for return<\/p>\n

The 49ers are opening the practice window for wide receiver Jacob Cowing<\/a> this week, potentially adding help at the position ahead of their postseason matchup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco 49ers are gearing up to face the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field after dropping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1818,10710,299,752,101,296,103,102,104,106,105,10709],"class_list":["post-122544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-49ers","tag-ji","tag-kyle-shanahan","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-tatum-bethune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}