San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner suffered a gruesome ankle injury back in Week 6, fracturing it and dislocating it during a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Everyone assumed the injury would knock Warner out for the rest of the season, which makes sense given the severity of it. But is there a chance that the four-time First-Team All-Pro could return this year?
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49ers general manager John Lynch doesn’t seem to be ruling out, as he provided a rather significant update on Warner’s recovery this week.
“Like I said before, it’s a stretch to foresee him coming back [for the playoffs], but I don’t put anything past Fred Warner,” Lynch said during an appearance on KNBR. “Our biggest issue is just going to be making sure — he’ll want to, but it’s just like, is it a wise decision for him, for our organization, all those things?”
The chances of Warner returning still seem rather slim, but if he does, it would undoubtedly increase San Francisco’s chances of making a Super Bowl run.
“We’ll let that transpire, but what Fred will do is not waste a day in doing everything he can to rehab that injury,” Lynch added.
The Niners are 9-4 and have managed to win three straight games in spite of all of their injury issues, so just imagine how scary the 49ers would be if they were healthy?
Of course, San Francisco is still missing critical pieces like wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and defensive end Nick Bosa, but just getting Warner back on the field would be huge for the club.
Warner had logged 51 tackles and a couple of forced fumbles in six games this season before going down. He entered the NFL as a third-round pick back in 2018 and racked up well over 100 tackles in each of his first seven seasons, making four Pro Bowl appearances along the way.
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In fact, the 29-year-old has rattled off 130-plus tackles in each of his last four campaigns. Last year, he finished with 131 stops, a pair of interceptions and four forced fumbles.
The 49ers had a bye last week. They will take on the Tennessee Titans this Sunday.
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