It’s been a season marred by adversity for the 49ers.
Despite many challenges that could have made the 2025 NFL season a wash, the 49ers have clinched a playoff berth and control their own destiny with two games remaining in the regular season.
Star left tackle Trent Williams explained how the team’s resilience in the wake of devastating injuries helped forge a bond.
“I think it brought us closer together. I’d be lying to tell you that it didn’t affect us,” Williams explained to reporters after the 49ers’ 48-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday. “It affected us, it affected everybody. Seeing your leader [Fred Warner], the best linebacker on the ground. Hearing another one of your leaders, Nick Bosa, one of the best [defensive] ends in the league, has torn his ACL.”
“It’s really hard to take that and just say, ‘Next man up.’ I’d be sitting here lying if I told you that was the case.”
Williams’ explanation of the team’s emotions surrounding Warner and Bosa’s season-ending injuries is a much more candid response than what many team members told media immediately after they lost their two defensive leaders. Obviously, the team didn’t want to publicly dwell too much on the injuries as they happened and instead put a focus on what the team can control on the field.
As Williams says, executing the ‘next-man-up’ mentality is easier said than done. But the team has stayed the course with those next men indeed stepping up.
“Guys like [linebacker] Tatum [Bethune], we’re really happy for him. So, the team just kind of surrounded him, coddled around him,” Williams said. “We knew how important this opportunity was. We really wanted him to play good, I think he seized his opportunity.”
Bethune, the second-year linebacker with just one career start heading into the season, was the immediate fill-in for Warner in the starting lineup. He recorded at least 10 tackles in his following four starts.
Williams also noted the impact of defensive end Clelin Ferrell, who was signed to the practice squad in early November and later signed to the active roster. Ferrell has four sacks in six games this season.
The ‘next-man-up’ mentality originally felt like a stopgap measure to keep the team afloat. But as these lesser-known players have stepped up in place of the stars, the 49ers have done much more than simply stay alive.
“It all matters, and I think it all made us closer,” Williams said.
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