SANTA CLARA – Linebacker Fred Warner, three months since ankle surgery will resume practicing with the 49ers today, in the hopes he can suit up in the NFC Championship Game should they upset No. 1 Seattle on Saturday night.
“We’re opening his window so he can do some stuff,” coach Kyle Shanahan announced Tuesday. “But we’re not doing much, so he’ll walk-through out there with us today and things like that. We’re hoping he can be ready for next week.”
The No. 6-seed 49ers (13-5) knocked off the defending Super Bowl-champion Eagles 23-19 in Philadelphia on Sunday to at least keep Warner’s comeback hopes alive. But first they’ll need to upset the Seahawks in a divisional-round game Saturday that opens at 5 p.m. at Lumen Field, where the 49ers opened their season with a fourth-quarter comeback win.
Warner, a four-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler, sustained a fractured and dislocated right ankle in the 49ers’ Week 6 loss at Tampa Bay. By opening Warner’s window to come off Injured Reserve, the 49ers officially have three weeks to evaluate whether to activate him; the NFC Championship Game will be Jan. 25, and Super Bowl LX is Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium.
There was no media access to what Shanahan said would be a walk-through session with no full speed or offense-vs.-defense action. Players will talk to reporters afterward, though the 49ers only want them at the facility for 3 1/2 hours, or half their usual time commitment.
On Monday, Warner posted an Instagram video showing him doing agility drills with a trainer on the 49ers’ practice field, where he was spotted by media last Thursday for the first time since his injury. He vowed from Day 1 to make a “legendary” comeback, drawing on a phrase that former teammate Kwon Alexander introduced to the 49ers’ lexicon in their 2019 team’s run to the Super Bowl.
“The road ends here,” Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu commented on Instagram.
Shanahan’s response to such social-media banter is that it’s “fake entertainment. … Just having fun.”
Warner underwent surgery Oct. 14, and throughout his rehabilitation process, he’s cheered on the 49ers’ home games from a luxury suite with his family. Warner missed the 49ers’ last home game, a 13-3 loss to Seattle on Jan. 3, to attend the birth of his daughter.
Shanahan said Warner hasn’t badgered him about speeding up his comeback.
“That’s not Fred’s style totally,” Shanahan said. “He does that by showing how hard he’s working on the side and knows we’re watching. He knows he doesn’t have to do that for me. As soon as he’s ready, obviously there will be zero decision on my part.”
Shanahan said that decision otherwise rests with the 49ers’ medical staff as Warner must past baseline tests before getting cleared.
The 49ers have started three other linebackers in his place the past three months, with Tatum Bethune and Curtis Robinson eventually yielding to Eric Kendricks for his starting debut Sunday in Philadelphia, where Kendricks broke up a fourth-down pass to secure the wild-card win.
KITLE SURGERY
Tight end George Kittle will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair his right Achilles, which ruptured in the first half of Sunday’s game.
HEALTH UPDATE
Not practicing are safety Ji’Ayir Brown (hamstring) and linebackers Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quadriceps). Limited are wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee), right guard Dominick Puni (ankle), defensive linemen Keion White (groin, hamstring) and Yetur Gross-Matos (knee), and, left tackle Trent Williams (hamstring, rest).
Linebacker Nick Martin remains in the concussion protocol and on Injured Reserve. He has not played since Nov. 30 in Cleveland.
RIVALRY RESUMES
While Brock Purdy is 4-0 all-time in Seattle, the 49ers’ rivalry with the Seahawks is far from lopsided. The teams of course split the regular-season series, with each winning as a visitor. They’ve also split their two playoff matchups, with Seattle winning 23-17 at home in the 2012 season’s NFC Championship Game, and the 49ers posting a 41-23 home win in the 2022 season’s wild-card action.
Seattle leads the overall series 32-24 and are 16-9 at its downtown venue, Lumen Field.
“We’ve know each other very well and have played against each other a ton,” Shanahan said. “The schemes, even the last time we played, didn’t change much on both sides as opposed to Week 1. Both teams have an idea of exactly what to expect. There’s always wrinkles and timing and situational when you’ll see that stuff. But it kind of simplifies everything, which usually the playoffs as a whole are like that, too.”
COACHING TENURE
With Mike Tomlin leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers and John Harbaugh getting fired by the Baltimore Ravens, Shanahan called it “shocking” to find himself among the NFL’s second-longest tenured coaches behind the Chiefs’ Andy Reid. Shanahan, Sean McVay (Rams) and Sean McDermott (Bills) all joined their teams in 2017; Reid joined Kansas City in 2013.
“That does feel weird but I do feel I’m getting older so maybe it makes sense,” Shanahan said. “I wouldn’t say this is the most creative and innovative that we’ve been. We’re doing what we always do. Sometimes you have injuries and a good record so you get more attention for it. But I feel we’re doing the same we always do: try our hardest and try to prepare our players.”
FATHER-SON HISTORY
Shanahan’s ninth career playoff win Sunday surpassed the total of his father, Mike, who did have back-to-back Super Bowl victories with the 1997 and ’98 Denver Broncos among his eight playoff wins. Mandy Shanahan, Kyle’s wife, tipped him off about that trivia, though he said: “That actually surprised me. I didn’t believe it because I thought it was fake news. I went back and tried to count them. It was pretty cool. I’ll let him hear about it this week.”
BET ON IT
Although the 49ers may have the largest odds of winning the Super Bowl among eight teams left, Shanahan said he is not offended. But back when Mac Jones quarterbacked the 49ers to an Oct. 2 upset of the Rams, Shanahan tried firing up Jones pregame by telling him the betting line moved from being 3-point underdogs to 8 ½ points.
“I was just messing with him before the game. I’ve never taken a spread personally,” said Shanahan, whose 49ers opened as 7-point underdogs this week and now that’s climbed to 7 ½ points.
WILLIAMS’ AVAILABILITY
Williams missed the 49ers’ Jan. 3 loss to the Seahawks but is expected to play in this rematch, having played all 59 offensive snaps in Philadelphia. “Obviously it’s never easier when Trent’s not out there. It was a big challenge not having him out there that game,” Shanahan said. “But for the most part Austen (Pleasants) stepped up really well and was not at all the reason the game ended up the way it was. It was awesome having Trent back last week and having him this week.”