The San Francisco 49ers have dealt with a lot of injuries this season. Among those missing time are running back Christian McCaffrey, receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, tight end George Kittle, offensive tackle Trent Williams, defensive end Nick Bosa and quarterback Brock Purdy.
Linebacker Fred Warner apparently doesn’t want to be part of those teammates on the sideline. The seven-year veteran announced Wednesday that he played the past seven games with a broken ankle bone.
Warner, 28, says he suffered the injury during Week 4’s 30-13 win over the New England Patriots. The rift occurred in the first half and Warner did not play the rest of the game. But he has been in the lineup since then and plans to play Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills.
“It’s something I deal with every game,” Warner told reporters, via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “I sit on that table before every match and make it pop up every match, just so I can roll.
“But it’s not an excuse. It just is what it is. That’s the NFL,” he continued. “You’re not going to be healthy. You’ve got to go out there, find ways to perform, play at a high level and win every week.”
In addition to playing in every game since sustaining the injury, Warner has also participated in every practice over the past seven weeks. Only during week 5, after sustaining the fracture, was he limited in practice.
What probably shouldn’t come as a surprise is that despite the fracture in his ankle, Warner still leads the 49ers with 84 tackles (50 solo). He was San Francisco’s leading tackler for the past six seasons. Warner is on pace to reach more than 100 tackles for the seventh year in a row. Additionally, he has two interceptions, four forced fumbles and one sack.
However, Warner’s play has been affected by the injury. Of his 11 missed tackles, nine have occurred since he hurt his ankle, according to the Associated Press. He also has 31 catches on 31 targets.
The three-time All-Pro later said he probably shouldn’t have said anything about his ankle, but added that the fracture likely won’t heal until after the season.
“Any time you break a bone and just keep playing on it, the bone usually won’t be able to heal itself,” he added. “So we just have to keep fighting.”