Fred Warner gave the San Francisco 49ers and their fans a bit of a scare when he suffered an ankle injury against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but he says he's feeling confident in his availability for Saturday night's Divisional Playoff game between the 49ers and Green Bay Packers.
Warner fell to the turf in visible pain during the fourth quarter of the 49ers' 23-17 Wild Card win over the Cowboys and at the time was declared questionable to return to the game. But he let fans know on social media Monday that he was feeling well, and on Tuesday he explained why he has optimism about his status for this weekend.
"I think just the fact that the MRI results came back great. It was good news for sure, and just the way I've been feeling gives me a lot of confidence for Saturday," Warner said.
Warner gave some details on Tuesday of what exactly happened against the Cowboys, saying he hurt his ankle in a similar fashion in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on December 12.
"It kind of just changed direction," Warner said. "My cleat got stuck in the ground, just the turf. My ankle folded underneath itself similar to how it happened in Cincinnati. After that it was just sheer pain. Over now for sure."
As a matter of fact, Warner said that his ankle injury against the Cowboys was an aggravation of what happened against the Bengals, which is why it hurt more than it did last month.
"When I did my ankle in Cincinnati, I still played the rest of the game even when it happened," Warner said. "But yeah, it was a re-aggravation. I think that's why it might felt worse this time around -- just re-hurting an open wound kind of situation."
The 49ers will need all their firepower on defense against the Packers at Lambeau Field on Saturday (8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT, FOX) in order to keep quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the potent Packers offense in check. Rodgers threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-33 passing in a 30-28 win over the 49ers on September 3, and he's put together an outstanding season since then that a number of analysts have predicted will end in the Super Bowl.
"Listen, we all know how amazing he is, and again, another MVP-type caliber season," Warner said of Rodgers. "I think the biggest thing is with whatever our game plan's going to be, we've got to be sticky in coverage, we've got to make sure we're getting pressure up front and we've got to work together as a unit to throw him off his balance a little bit. But that's easier said than done, of course."
