SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Fred Warner, on his way out of the locker room, stopped at the stall of second-year safety Ji’Ayir Brown, positioned near the exit. Warner didn’t say anything, just stopped and stared with a smile. Brown, when he saw Warner, dapped up the San Francisco 49ers’ leader and told him he couldn’t wait until he watched the film.
“Watch when you see me blocking,” Brown said through a grin after an emphatic handshake.
Brown was speaking of Warner’s touchdown, a 45-yard interception return that shifted Sunday’s game in the 49ers’ favor. The home team got back to .500 with a 30-13 Week 4 win over visiting New England, ending the 49ers’ two-game losing streak with a spark from their all-world linebacker. And the film will show Brown flying downfield to get ahead of Warner. Brown finished his full-speed sprint by crashing into Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett, keeping him from getting to Warner.
“Oh,” Warner replied, “I already know.”
Warner was speaking of his awareness of the convoy. He was gassed as he crossed the 10-yard line. The second-quarter interception, on which he leaped to snag Brissett’s pass out of the air, knocked the wind out of him as he landed. With both hands securing the ball, Warner landed on his back.
He immediately got up and took off, but as he chugged along toward his 45-yard pick six, it caught up with him. He was close to not making it. Warner knew he did so only because his teammates made sure of it.
Brown was joined by cornerback Charvarius Ward, who also high-tailed it downfield to help. Malik Mustapha took out another Patriot.
“I was blocking,” Nick Bosa said. “Kind of set up a wall for him. I think I blocked a couple guys.”
Fair. Bosa can safely say he got in the way of a couple of Patriots early in Warner’s return.
Fred doing Fred things 💪
📺 #NEvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/6FglMdkuEe— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 29, 2024
Defenses always want to score. But it’s extra special for the 49ers to rally on behalf of Warner. The way he’s put the defense, the whole team, on his back these first four weeks is jaw-dropping even for Warner, already entrenched as one of the best linebackers in football.
He’s found another level.
“Dude is different,” Brown said. “The best linebacker in the game. Without a question. Not even close.”
Warner sat the second half with an aggravated ankle. That it was bad enough to force Warner to tap out is cause for concern, especially with the 49ers’ early-season injury woes.
But by the time he’d left the game, the 49ers were up 20-3. And Warner was up to four takeaways in his 14 quarters of action.
Let’s put that in perspective. Warner has as many takeaways as the entire defense of eight NFL teams. At least eight other defenses have fewer than four forced turnovers. Through Week 4, Warner has doubled up the Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders in takeaways.
The clutchness of his big plays only adds to his Defensive Player of the Year campaign. Two of his takeaways came in the red zone — an interception and a forced fumble at the goal line against Minnesota. Plus the six he scored Sunday, that’s a strong case for an 18-point impact on the scoreboard by Warner.
“He’s always played at the highest of levels,” Bosa said. “Sometimes things come your way in a game, and he’s taken advantage of all those opportunities. Obviously his stats are crazy right now. I don’t see it slowing down.”
The excellence of Warner to start this season is as significant to the 49ers’ spirit as it is to their scheme. Should San Francisco survive this slow start and regain its championship-level form, it will be in large part because Warner upheld the standard. While the 49ers struggled through injury, offseason drama, inconsistency, rust, and the Super Bowl hangover they’d never admit, Warner’s brilliance performed the double task of making critical plays for the 49ers and indicting their inadequacy.
Greatness is pressure for its neighbors. And Warner looks as great as he’s ever been.
“It’s his preparation,” Brown said. “Dude is always intentional. He goes through every day like it’s game day. That’s the fun part, when he gets out there and actually shows all his preparation off.”
Fred Warner’s interception was his fourth takeaway of the season. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
The 49ers’ turnover on the defensive side of the ball has increased the degree of difficulty for Warner. He doesn’t have his favorite sidekick, Dre Greenlaw, who is recovering from a torn Achilles. Arik Armstead, a stalwart on the 49ers’ defensive line, is now in Jacksonville. And with Javon Hargrave on injured reserve, the starting defensive front features only Bosa from years past.
The secondary has added Isaac Yiadom at corner, moved Deommodore Lenoir to the slot, and George Odum and Mustapha are getting reps with Talanoa Hufanga injured.
Warner, as the hub of the defense, has answered the call by turning up his leadership. His presence is felt even more outside the linebacker corps as he adopts the task of helping expedite the jelling process.
“I was excited from the moment we got all the new guys we did this offseason,” Warner said. “The opportunity was to now continue to build that cohesion and chemistry amongst the group. I think the best teams are the ones that are the closest. And that doesn’t happen overnight. Week by week, we’ve got to continue to find that closeness as a team, as a defense. The more we do that, the better we’ll play.”
What bonds a defense better than takeaways? Warner created a moment with a flex of his variety of abilities.
The interception was a product of his instincts and experience — and preparation — reading Brissett and drifting into a window where the Patriots quarterback was aiming.
“I wish I could see football the way he sees football,” said defensive lineman Sam Okuayinonu, who was called up from the practice squad Sunday and played with Warner for the first time.
“His mindset of dominance. He wants to dominate. That’s what I’m trying to do. He’s a leader, too. When he speaks, you feel that s— through your chest.”
The interception also showed off Warner’s athleticism, as he had to get up for that one. The hands weren’t too shabby either.
With his diaphragm spasming from gravity’s yank back to earth, Warner’s toughness came into play. His sense of the moment. His penchant for playmaking.
Before the interception, the 49ers offense had the ball deep in Patriots territory twice Sunday. Once on a short field caused by a 49ers takeaway. Both times, they managed only a field goal. It’s the kind of squandered opportunity that got them in trouble in last week’s gut-punch loss at the Rams.
Warner wasn’t leaving this to chance. He got up quickly and took off. And, again, created a moment to lift his team.
“As far as leadership,” Brown said, “and attitude and personality and mindset, he’s the one you want.”
GO DEEPER
Brock Purdy touts his wheels, flashes deep ball as 49ers’ stabilizing force against Patriots
(Top photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
