6:41 PM: According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has revealed Warner’s diagnosis to be both a broken and dislocated ankle. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner quickly followed the report confirming that Warner will require surgery, and the injury will be season-ending.
5:07 PM: The 49ers have been ravaged by injury throughout this young season, but they may have taken their biggest hit today. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner has been diagnosed with a dislocated ankle. Russini reports that Warner will meet with doctors to determine his exact prognosis, but given the nature of the injury, it has the potential to be season-ending. 
We saw Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin suffer an ankle dislocation about a week later into the season last year, and though he had intentions to be ready for the postseason after undergoing surgery, he didn’t play another snap that season. Godwin then needed a second procedure on his ankle that held him out for the full offseason, training camp, and the first three weeks of the regular season. Obviously, we can’t project this onto Warner, whose details are not yet known, but Godwin’s recent example serves as a possible outcome for this type of injury.
No matter how long the absence is, unless the 28-year-old comes back two weeks from now, this is uncharted territory for Warner. Since getting drafted by San Francisco in the third round back in 2018, Warner has appeared and started in every possible game except for one. While the four-time All-Pro will have his own new challenges to tackle over a potentially extended absence, the 49ers’ uncharted territory of fielding a defense for multiple games without Warner poses other serious challenges.
Warner’s backup at middle linebacker is Tatum Bethune. A seventh-round pick out of Florida State last year, Bethune spent his rookie year almost exclusively on special teams. Active for 11 games, he only appeared on the field for 12 defensive snaps before starting San Francisco’s season finale. This year has been more of the same for the 24-year-old; after appearing in three defensive snaps in Week 1, Bethune has been all special teams before today.
At the very least, Warner will end up adding to an injury report that featured 18 other players this week for the 49ers. If the injury ends up being as serious as it looked, Warner could be the 12th Niner placed on injured reserve this season. He would join such stars on the IR as pass rusher Nick Bosa and tight end George Kittle, with more starters like quarterback Brock Purdy and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall merely sporting “out” designations on the injury report.
While the injury suffered by Warner today looked bad, no determinations have been made on the severity of his ankle injury. Once more is learned, San Francisco will be able to formulate a plan for return. Until then, they’ll continue to do as they have been doing, fielding the next man up and relying on their depth to put themselves in as good a position to win as possible.
Ouch. I dislocated my left ankle when I was a kid. Hurt like hell. Couldn’t walk without pain for months and that was without any ligament damage. Warner still needs to get an MRI to see if there is any I’m sure. Hopefully he’ll get away with just it needing set. Then rest and rehab.
Warner was carted off and taken to the imaging room inside the stadium. Imaging confirmed dislocated ankle. Has to be season-ending.
That’s a devastating blow. He’s been the heart and soul of the defense. They let a lot of great players leave and kept him.
Ouch!
It looked nasty, glad they only showed it once unlike the Bowman leg injury they thought they needed to replay a half dozen times
I am surprised they even show those kind of injuries again. I know back in the day they would replay it 5+ times. They replayed Willis McGahee’s at least 10 times in the game.
This sucks. It’s going to be season ending. Football is worse without Warner.
On another SF note, Mac Jones looks good under Kyle Shanahan leadership than Bill’s. Take time to develop a rookie rather than being a jerk. By the way Bill will be on his 10th losing season w/o Tom. GOAT my backside.
/\ good post
I knew it was bad when he couldn’t get up since he played with broken foot last year. As a Bucs fan it reminded me of Godwin last year, this was friendly fire though which made it more avoidable.
JFC!!! Give me just one week without someone going down! Unbelievable! Football Gods hate us!
6 Super Bowl trophies say otherwise.
Brutal. We have a competition for the year from hell teams this year
Sucks for Warner.
Love that guy.
And those niners are scrappy.