TAMPA, Fla. — Buccaneers receiver Tez Johnson quickly called over to the 49ers sideline, then took a second look at Fred Warner’s ankle and covered his face in horror.
Johnson’s reaction to the 49ers linebacker’s injury Sunday afternoon perfectly summarized the feelings of Warner’s teammates, coaches, and all of the 49ers fans watching.
It’s too easy and too cute to say that when Warner was carted off the field seven minutes into the game, the 49ers’ postseason chances went with him. But that doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. The 49ers fought hard — just like they have all season in the face of endless injuries — after Warner left before losing 30-19 to the Buccaneers, but this one … this one is different.
“We’re hurting … we’re hurting,” safety Ji’Ayir Brown said. “We lost our guy, we lost our leader.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” offensive tackle Trent Williams said. “Not only is he one of the best linebackers to ever play the game, but he’s the heart and soul of our team. Not just the defense.”
Warner’s right ankle is dislocated and broken, and he is out for the season, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. The team is now down its best two defensive players, along with pass rusher Nick Bosa, all while fielding a patchwork offense without quarterback Brock Purdy, tight end George Kittle and receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall.
The “next man up” saying can only carry so much water, and Warner’s injury changes everything.
Warner was the defensive leader who made young players follow his energetic lead while making sure they all lined up in the right place and knew their assignments. That even goes for every practice back at training camp. And the four-time All-Pro was arguably the best linebacker in the league, making key plays and run stops every week as the 49ers won close game after close game.
Now, a 49ers team that used to live on its ability to run the ball and stop the run may not be able to do either anymore.
And one has to wonder: Only a few days after general manager John Lynch said he was working the phones to make a trade and replace Bosa, does he hang up now? Does it make any sense to trade future draft picks when your ceiling is dramatically lower with the loss of your two best defensive players?
The 49ers will scoff at all that, as well as they should. They have to soldier on — because that’s what Warner told them to do after the game.
“He told us that we still have a lot of season left,” linebacker Luke Gifford said. “That we have a good football team. That it’s tough losing a brother, it sucks, but we’ve got a lot of people left and the tools, and we have to focus and we have to keep playing.”
Tatum Bethune had 10 tackles after he came in for the injured Fred Warner in the first quarter. (Jonathan Dyer / Imagn Images)
Warner told his teammates not to feel sorry for him … and he was in good spirits.
“He’s got a strong foundation and told us that he’s going to be OK and just that the standard doesn’t dip,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. “He has full confidence in Tatum (Bethune) going forward, and that even without him around, the standard needs to be the same. The leadership needs to be the same, we need to push each other all the same.”
Williams said Warner “will never let you see him down.”
“That’s Fred,” Williams said. “Even in the midst of what he’s going through, he wanted to address the team. He’s just that type of guy. I just pray for him to have a healthy and speedy recovery.”
The 49ers, thanks to the fact that the Buccaneers are also one of the most injured teams in the league, stayed close. Despite some defensive breakdowns, they were still down only one score with the ball and six minutes to go in the game. But while Baker Mayfield was making plays that had the crowd chanting “MVP,” 49ers quarterback Mac Jones was under siege. He was sacked six times and hit 10 other times, and his second interception sealed the 49ers’ fate.
“When you lose one of your best players and leaders, and then you lose a game that we still felt like we could have won even without him, it’s kind of a double whammy,” Juszczyk said.
“I am disappointed that I didn’t play better for Fred,” Jones said.
Bethune, a second-year player who was drafted in the seventh round, credits Warner’s guidance for being the player that he is and even being in the position of having to replace Warner. Bethune had 10 tackles after he came in for Warner in the first quarter. He would always ask Warner for advice until, at one point late last season, Warner said he was cutting the rookie off and would not give him any more.
“Fred told me that he’s not telling me anything else until I get my nutrition and my hydration together,” Bethune said at training camp. “I took that serious because he’s right. If I can’t do the simple stuff right, what makes me think I can go out there and do all the things he’s doing?”
Bethune said back then that he was “very grateful for Fred,” and that obviously hit him when the cart came out Sunday.
“I was hurting when Fred was carted off,” Bethune said. “But I can’t feel any pressure to replace him, because Fred wouldn’t want that.
“It’s just an opportunity. I’ve just got to step up and make sure there’s no drop-off, no roller-coaster defense. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m gonna do my best and make sure there is no drop-off.”
Shanahan said he has “a lot of faith” in Bethune and that he is, in fact, “the next man up.”
Two plays after Warner went down, the 49ers did stand up and make a stop on third down when rookie Mykel Williams recorded his first sack. Williams is one of four defensive rookies with big roles who have been leaning on Warner.
“It’s obviously tough being as young as we are,” Gifford said. “We’ve got a lot of new pieces and new guys. But the thing about it is, I think the culture is what it is. The way that it’s been built with guys like Fred. It’s instilled in everybody.
“Turn on the tape, and you can see the way guys run and hit, how hard they play.”
The 49ers have played like Warner as best they could. That’s going to be a lot harder without him, but they have no choice.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” running back Christian McCaffrey said. “It’s such a weird game when you have to see somebody like that, similar to what happened with Bosa, and then just have to continue to play. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with and one of the best leaders I’ve ever played with …
“It’s just heartbreaking.”