Getty
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The San Francisco 49ers received a positive update on Fred Warner on Jan. 13. Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that the Niners have opened Warner’s practice window to return from injury.
As a result, Warner could potentially return for the NFC title game in two weeks if the 49ers advance past the Seattle Seahawks.
“We’re opening his window so he can do some stuff,” Shanahan said. “But again, we’re not doing much, so he’ll walk-through out there with us today and things like that. But, hoping he can be ready for next week.”
With the Niners potentially seeing the return of Warner, who has been out since Oct. 12 after suffering an ankle injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 49ers’ Demarcus Robinson didn’t hide the boost that the update gave the squad.
“I feel like we could definitely feel his presence a bit more,” Robinson told reporters on Jan. 13 (h/t Tracy Sandler of FGSN). “He’s out there on the field with us. We always had his energy being in the stadium, getting the crowd before the game. But definitely for us now as teammates, having him out there, being on the field, [and] at practice seeing him run around. It feels good to see him back out there.”
49ers Saw Another Veteran Leader Return Eagles Game
In the win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers saw the return of another veteran leader in Trent Williams, who was out since Week 17 after injuring his hamstring. That presence on offense played a major role as Shanahan stated after the win that San Francisco are a different team with Williams on the field.
“I knew his mindset and how he attacked everything,” Shanahan told reporters (h/t 95.7 The Game). “It was his first hamstring injury, and it’s very rare that you can play on it in that amount of time. He was adamant that he was going to do it. We’re a different team with Trent out there.”
The Niners Will Need to Prepare Without George Kittle
Moreover, the news regarding Warner comes at a good time, considering the 49ers lost another veteran leader in George Kittle to a torn Achilles tendon injury. Nonetheless, Niners’ Kyle Juszczyk revealed the message that Kittle sent them during halftime to motivate the team to defeat the Eagles.
“Losing George is different,” Juszczyk told reporters postgame (h/t KNBR). “That’s the heart and soul of our team. He brings so much energy, and [he is such] an incredible player. So that definitely hurts a lot. But even when he was down, he was still positive.
“I came in at halftime, and he was smiling, and he said, I’m not dead yet, man. I’ll be back. Go win it. That meant a lot. Guys just continued to step up and find ways, even we lose our best players. And we did enough to get the win.”
San Francisco have one team standing in the way of Warner returning to the field, and that’s the Seahawks. It’s Round 3 between these two rivals, and the trend this season has been the road team winning in the first two encounters, so it will be interesting to see if that continues in the playoffs.
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
More Heavy on 49ers
Loading more stories
