The San Francisco 49ers have dealt with a lot of injuries this season. Among those missing were Christian McCaffrey, receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, tight end George Kittle, offensive lineman Trent Williams, linebacker Nick Bosa and quarterback Brock Purdy.
Linebacker Fred Warner apparently doesn’t want him to join those teammates on the sidelines. The seven-year veteran revealed on Wednesday that he has played the last seven games with a broken ankle.
Warner, 28, says he suffered the injury during Week 4’s 30-13 win over the New England Patriots. The fracture occurred in the first half and Warner did not play the rest of the game. However, he has been in the lineup ever since and intends 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 would sit on that table before every game and shoot it up every single game just to spin.
“But that’s not an excuse. That’s the way it is. That’s the NFL,” he continued. “You’re not going to be healthy. You’ve got to go out there, you’ve got to find ways to execute, play at a high level and win every week.”
As well as playing in every game since suffering the injury, Warner has also taken part in all training sessions over the past seven weeks. He was limited in practice only during Week 5, when he suffered a fracture.
What probably shouldn’t be a surprise is that despite a broken ankle, Warner still leads the 49ers with 84 tackles (50 solo). He was San Francisco’s leading tackler in each of the previous six seasons. Warner is on track to cross the 100-match mark for the seventh consecutive year. Additionally, he has two interceptions, four forced fumbles and one sack.
However, Warner’s game was affected by injury. Nine of his 11 missed tackles have come since injuring his ankle, according to the Associated Press. He also has 31 sacks allowed 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.
“Anytime you break a bone, if you keep playing on it, the bone usually won’t be able to heal itself,” he added. “So I have to keep pushing through.