The 49ers must overcome another massive injury to a core player

Brutal.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The San Francisco 49ers have not been able to get healthy all season. Every time it starts to feel as though they are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, another injury hits. None may be more devastating than the team losing Fred Warner with an ankle injury in their Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

San Francisco 49ers lose Fred Warner to ankle injury

San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner (54). | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The official injury and the length of time that he will miss are yet to be determined. However, after viewing the replay, it looks like this may be another season-ending injury. This is devastating for the 49ers defense who has been playing above their heads so far this year. 

They looked like they had a real chance to grow into a strong unit with Nick Bosa healthy. When he left the lineup with a season-ending ACL injury, you could feel the defense decline a step. However, they appeared to have enough pieces, and with the star power of Warner, they held up to win a couple of games without Bosa. 

However, without Warner, it is starting to feel as though they do not have enough defensive pieces to make a run. The defense held up its end of the bargain through five weeks, and now that the offense is starting to get healthy, it will be its turn to win a few games for the 49ers.

San Francisco is leaning on Tatum Bethune to take over without Warner. Bethune is a former seventh-round pick from Florida State in his second NFL season. He only played 52 snaps on defense last season, although he has been a reliable special teams asset. 

On one hand, this is a player with no experience and a limited pedigree. The drop off from Warner, who was playing like the best defensie player in the league, to a late round player is massive. At the same time, San Francisco has been leaning on their last couple of draft classes to build their roster. Getting Bethune this type of time of the field will only improve his quality of play over time. If the 49ers can find another hit from the last two draft classes, it will put them in fantastic position moving forward. 

It is obviously a massive disappointment, overall, though. It will be interesting to see what news comes out and how soon the 49ers make a declaration on his timeline to heal.