{"id":678094,"date":"2026-01-15T02:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/678094\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T02:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:23:13","slug":"fred-warner-on-injury-return-amid-49ers-playoff-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/678094\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Warner on injury return amid 49ers’ playoff push"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fred Warner<\/a> is back on the 49ers\u2019 practice field and looked energetic during the media viewing portion Wednesday<\/a>, though he was listed as a limited participant in the session.<\/p>\n

The 49ers opened his 21-day practice window<\/a> on Tuesday, allowing him to rejoin drills with his teammates and let the 49ers track his progress back from fracturing and dislocating his right ankle in an October loss<\/a> to the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday that the 49ers would take it slowly this week with Warner, signaling a return target of the NFC Championship Game, if they get there by beating the Seahawks<\/a> in the divisional round on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Warner was measured when talking about returning to game action, but did not totally rule out trying to play in Seattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking it day by day,\u201d Warner said of his return. \u201cThey said last week they weren\u2019t opening my window, and my window is now open. We\u2019re just taking it day by day. The expectation is to continue to take it day by day and see where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are a few other highlights of his session\u2026<\/p>\n

On what got him to this point:<\/p>\n

It speaks to everybody who\u2019s been in my corner the entire time \u2013 the trainers, the strength staff, the plan they put together for me to help push me along. It truly did take an army to help me get to this point. God bless my wife, she was eight to nine months pregnant, trying to take care of me when I was on that (knee) scooter. I\u2019m just super blessed to be right where I\u2019m at.<\/p>\n

On when he raised the possibility of a return:<\/p>\n

The question was asked at my first meeting with the doctor to see how the bone was healing. I put that question out there to him, a few weeks after my surgery. I said, \u2018In a different world, would I be able to come back?\u2019 He said, \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s a possibility.\u2019 The first six weeks, when you\u2019re non-weight bearing, they\u2019re kind of the same. After that, you can manipulate the way you rehab, going forward aggressively and safely, of course, to ultimately get back to this point. That\u2019s what we did. Still have a little ways to go before being fully cleared to step out there in a game.<\/p>\n

On the team culture:<\/p>\n

It speaks to who we are here at the 49ers, the culture and the standard that\u2019s been built from the top down, and the depth we\u2019ve been able to create at every position. Not to mention we\u2019ve lost guys at almost every position throughout the season and guys have stepped up in a huge way to get us in this position. Of course it\u2019s going to take another one this week against a great test in Seattle for the third time this season.<\/p>\n

On the medical side of his return:<\/p>\n

Everything to this point has been in direct communication with the doctors and trainers involved in my surgery. Nothing\u2019s been done with, \u2018Hey man, let\u2019s just go out and do it out of pure will.\u2019 Everything has been scientifically based.<\/p>\n

Of course I didn\u2019t think that day in Tampa Bay I was going to get rolled up on and dislocate and fracture my ankle. But that\u2019s what this game is, it\u2019s a violent game. But I\u2019m not going to go out there and put myself at added risk if I\u2019m not ready.<\/p>\n

On the initial comeback:<\/p>\n

To be honest, once I put that helmet and shoulder pads on, I know what it is. I know how to play this game. I know what I\u2019m capable of.<\/p>\n

The mental hurdle was having to rewatch the play in the beginning of it all and soak it in to see what I did to myself, right? Once I was able to own that and attack the rehab process, it was a go from there. So that part\u2019s behind me. Now it\u2019s football is football.<\/p>\n

On his practice return this week:<\/p>\n

It felt like another day at the office. I\u2019ve been away for a little bit but being back with the practice jersey and helmet and running around with the guys is going to be great. I\u2019ll have time to reminisce after it\u2019s all over. My only goal right now is to have the best day today to have a chance at beating Seattle.<\/p>\n

On the hardest part of the rehab:<\/p>\n

When I was on that scooter and couldn\u2019t fend for myself, I had to rely on my wife a lot. I\u2019ve never sustained a serious injury like this, so having to rely on my wife and other people around me to help, it was tough in the beginning. Once I settled in and attacked the rehab process, it was better.<\/p>\n

On watching Sunday\u2019s win over the Eagles from home:<\/p>\n

The feelings were intense. I remember pregame watching that, because I\u2019m at home, and my wife was watching me pace back and forth. I couldn\u2019t even sit down. The energy just being at my house, knowing what they were getting into being on the road against Philly in a hostile environment, those are the moments you dream of in the playoffs against a really good football team. To pull that off was outstanding. Another big test this week.<\/p>\n

On an NFC Championship Game comeback as a motivational chip for his teammates:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve obviously had communication with my teammates the entire way about it. But everything they\u2019ve done on the field up to this point is a testament to them and the preparation they\u2019ve put in every week. I\u2019m here just to be a resource where I can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fred Warner is back on the 49ers\u2019 practice field and looked energetic during the media viewing portion Wednesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,592,1921,929,6,1161,252,2624,2623,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-678094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-fred-warner","11":"tag-inside-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-san-francisco","15":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","16":"tag-sanfrancisco","17":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}