The San Francisco 49ers can’t quite get their injury situation to stabilize. Sunday’s 30-13 victory over the Patriots came with a whole new set of question marks on the health front.
Most notably, linebacker Fred Warner is dealing with an ankle injury that sidelined him for the entire second half of Sunday’s game. Warner came out of the tunnel for the second half looking like he’d return after leaving late in the first half. However, he was unable to make his way onto the field once the game began.
“I don’t, I know Fred tried to go, came out in third quarter and tried to go, but didn’t feel like he could,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said in his post-game press conference.
This is a significant deal that should be watched closely given how vital Warner is to the 49ers’ defense.
He jogged to the locker room before the half and ran off the field after the game which points toward him being at least somewhat healthy. On the other hand, that he didn’t return to the game and that Shanahan didn’t have an update afterward isn’t a great sign.
Warner wasn’t the only injury issue for the 49ers though.
Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, who became an essential piece of the 49ers’ defense, exited with a knee injury after dealing with a foot injury in practice during the week. Shanahan said the team doesn’t think the knee injury is ACL-related.
Tight end George Kittle briefly exited with a rib injury, but he returned. Wide receivers Jacob Cowing (shoulder) and Chris Conley (oblique) both had injury issues and returned to the game. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk left the game late with shoulder injury per Shanahan, although the severity of that is unknown as well.
Shanahan is scheduled talk to media again Monday at 3:30pm Pacific Time, at that point he’ll have additional updates.
