49ers Could've Prevented Fred Warner's Season-Ending Injury

Warner should still be playing. He should still have his 2025 season going strong. Instead, he's out for the season because no one noticed a defensive end was missing. That falls on the coaches.

What Kyle Shanahan said about the failure

On Monday, Kyle Shanahan explained why there wasn't a defensive end on the inexcusable mistake that put Warner in that position.

“Because he was out on special teams, we thought he was out there and he came off the field," Shanahan said. "We didn't realize it until the snap and needed 11 out there. Would've called a timeout if I saw it, but I didn't and it was an unfortunate mistake.”

Shanahan wouldn't reveal who the defensive end was supposed to be on that play.

However, the previous special teams play was a kickoff for the 49ers. The only defensive end on it was Trevis Gipson, who the 49ers barely activated off the practice squad the day before the game.

It's tough to blame him. This was Gipson's second game of the season. He's liable to get lost out there and make a mistake. It happens for practice squad players. The 49ers should've prepared for that.

It's one thing if the 49ers didn't have rookie Mykel Williams out there. Williams should or would've known to go out on the field. I would understand why the 49ers aren't watching for him.

But they have to for Gipson. He had seven defensive snaps going into this game. Of course, he was going to get confused. The 49ers coaches clearly didn't communicate that to him effectively.

Even if they did, they still failed Warner by not noticing that a key piece was missing on the defensive line. Shanahan is at fault, defensive line coach Kris Kocurek is at fault, and so is Robert Saleh.

Usually, they operate as a high-level coaching staff. Unfortunately, this one lapse has cost Warner his 2025 season as well as the team's trajectory.

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