San Francisco 49ers’ Fred Warner could return if team advances past Seahawks

By Matt Lively

The San Francisco 49ers opened linebacker Fred Warner’s practice window this week. 

The move allows Warner to practice with the team for a 21-day period before either activating him or placing him on IR. Considering the postseason has begun, Warner’s goal is to play before the 49ers are eliminated. 

Head coach Kyle Shanahan stated that the goal is for Warner to return “next week,” referencing a potential NFC Championship Game if the 49ers were to advance past the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday. 

The 49ers’ defensive captain dislocated and fractured his ankle in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has reportedly been rehabbing for about seven hours a day as he hopes to make a return. 

On Monday, he posted to Instagram a video of him running and participating in football activities.

Shanahan added that Warner can’t “think with his heart and emotionally.” There is a protocol that must be followed for him to be cleared. 

“You ask doctors where he’s at, all the things these guys have to pass,” he said. “Sprinting and jumping, and things like that, he has to hit all those before we feel it’s safe.” 

Shanahan said Warner knows the coaching and front office have been watching and he hasn’t needed to advocate that he’s ready. 

Warner participated in a walk-through on Tuesday and had his first practice Wednesday since the injury.

None of that seemed realistic when he first got hurt. But the doctors first mentioned the possibility of a return a few weeks after his surgery and Warner has been working as hard as possible to make that a reality.

“When all this happened, I didn’t really think about the possibility of returning in season,” he said. “But the way things progressed, and being able to have this opportunity to be back with my teammates, and have a chance at helping them win this weekend, and so on and so forth, that’s my only goal moving forward.”

Warner said there are still more steps he needs to clear before doctors will allow him to play and said he won’t play if it puts him at an added risk of injury.

Warner credited the doctors, the training staff and his wife, Sydney, who just gave birth to the couple’s second child earlier this month after helping Warner get through the early days after surgery when he could only move around on a scooter.

“It truly did take an army to help me get to this point,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.