What Warner told the 49ers locker room after the Vikings’ crushing loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Fred Warner had some pointed and honest comments for his 49ers teammates after a frustrating 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
In an interview with the media in attendance after the game, the three-time All-Pro explained what he told the team.
“I told the team there that it’s never going to be an issue that we play hard, we always play hard,” Warner said. “We have so much talent in that room, we’re always going to play hard. But it’s about playing smarter, we’ve got to protect the ball, on special teams we can’t give up that blocked punt. And then defensively the game plan, if we say we’ve got to stop the run and be good on third down and we don’t do either, it’s going to be a long day.”
While Warner played at an All-Pro level, the rest of San Francisco’s defense struggled to contain former 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold and the Vikings due to sloppy play.
The most egregious blunder was a 97-yard touchdown run by safety Ji’Ayir Brown to Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson, which completely changed the tone of the game.
Add to that a blocked punt and a slew of offensive mistakes, along with some questionable decisions from coach Kyle Shanahan on fourth down, and you have the makings of a crushing defeat.
Although the 49ers are not fully fit yet, they had plenty of opportunities to take control of the game. Every time San Francisco needed a defensive stop or a big offensive play, they came up short, allowing Minnesota to take control.
The 49ers are now 1-1 heading into the 2024 NFL season, with a divisional game against the Los Angeles Rams scheduled for next Sunday.
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