49ers get good news on Warner; McCaffrey’s condition is double trouble
SANTA CLARA — The 49ers got good news regarding linebacker Fred Warner Monday and clarified the condition of running back Christian McCaffrey.
Warner was listed as “day to day” with an ankle injury after missing the second half of Sunday’s 30-13 win over the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium. It was Warner’s 45-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the 49ers’ up 13-0 after settling for short field goals on their first two drives.
“If it’s a high ankle sprain you know it’s going to take some time,” Shanahan said in his weekly conference call with local writers. “I know he’s hurting today but when you say he’s day to day it gives him a chance to heal up this week.”
If so, Warner has a chance to be on the field when the 49ers (2-2) host the Arizona Cardinals (1-3) Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
McCaffrey, meanwhile, was at the stadium after returning from Germany to receive treatment for Achilles tendinitis. As general manager John Lynch said last week on KNBR, McCaffrey has “bilateral Achilles tendinitis” — which means both Achilles tendons are affected.
“During the time (he’s been out) he’s had it in both,” Shanahan said. “I think it started in one, you overcompensate, it went to the other. But mainly one of them has just been bothering him, but he’s had it in both.”
According to Lynch, the next step is building McCaffery back up physically in a “smart and thoughtful way.”
McCaffrey is eligible to return from injured reserve on Thursday, Oct. 10 in Seattle but it’s likely he’ll be out considerably longer.
Other players who were injured and listed as “day to day” along with Warner were wide receiver Jacob Cowing (shoulder), defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (knee), tight end George Kittle (ribs), wide receiver Chris Conley (oblique) and fullback Kyle Juszczyk (shoulder).
After spending the first four games of the season on the non-football injury list, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall Jr. is eligible to begin a 21-day window of practice sessions to determine when he can be added to the 53-man roster. Shanahan said he wasn’t sure if Pearsall’s window would begin this week.
Defensive tackle Kalia Davis, however, could come off injured reserve and begin his practice window as soon as Wednesday.
Warner went to the postgame podium Sunday without a limp but stopped well short of proclaiming he’d be good to go this week.
“It was all based off of feel,” Warner said. “It would take a lot for me to tap out, right? If I could have been out there I would have been. We’ll get more information as we go with the scans and all that. I feel good right now.”
In just 28 snaps, Warner had seven tackles, just one behind team leader Ji’Ayir Brown, who played all 64 snaps and had eight stops. A first-team All-Pro selection a year ago, Warner’s level of play if anything has been even higher.
“It’s kind of hard to say that, he’s been so good every year,” Shanahan said. “But the way he’s started out this year, it’s been a big-time year for him so far.”
Defensive end Nick Bosa concurred, and said the difference this year is that Warner is cashing in when plays come his way.
“He’s always played at the highest of levels,” Bosa said. “Sometimes things come your way in the game and he’s taken advantage of those opportunities. I don’t see it slowing down.”
MUSTAPHA AND GREEN
Safety Malik Mustapha started in place of Talanoa Hufanga (ankle) and played every snap on defense. Fellow rookie Renardo Green got his first extended look and fared well in the second half. Shanahan liked what he saw from both.
Mustapha’s day began with a whiff on a third-down tackle and ended with a dropped interception, but everything in between was solid. Shanahan liked the way Mustapha blocked on Warner’s 45-yard interception return.
“I was real happy with how he played and it was nice to get Renardo in there,” Shanahan said. “It was nothing against Ike (Isaac Yiadom), Ike had a hell of a first half. But we put him in, gave him a shot in the third quarter, he was doing good and we just rolled with him.”
THE PEARSALL PLAN
Given that Pearsall missed so much training camp time before sustaining a gunshot wound to the chest in an armed robbery attempt in San Francisco on Aug. 31, Shanahan said he wasn’t sure how long it will take to get the rookie first-round pick game ready.
“I really don’t make any judgments until I see guys go through the practice week,” Shanahan said. “You kind of make that decision as it goes.”
SNAP JUDGMENTS
The 49ers played seven rookies who accounted for 220 snaps on offense, defense and special teams — Mustapha (69 — 64 on offense, 5 on special teams), guard Dominic Puni (68 — 62 on offense, 6 on special teams) Green (33 — 23 on defense, 10 on special teams), defensive tackle Evan Anderson (22 — 19 on defense, 3 on special teams), linebacker Tatum Bethune (18 — 4 on defense, 14 on special teams), running back Isaac Guerendo (12 — 5 at running back, seven on special teams) and wide receiver Jacob Cowing (8 — 4 on offense, 4 on special teams).
64: Aside from Mustapha, defenders who played every snap were linebacker D’Vondre Campbell, cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward and safety Ji’Ayir Brown.
63: Trent Williams was questionable with a toe injury but played every offensive snap. On snap No. 62, he was 15 yards downfield leading Mason on a 25-yard run. He’s fine.
59: It was announced in the press box at one point that Kittle had a rib injury. He missed just four snaps, then pretended not to know anything about it. He called his leaping 12-yard touchdown reception from Purdy one of his five best.
50: Brandon Aiyuk had the most snaps of any wide receiver on the roster. He caught two passes for 48 yards and was targeted five times by Purdy.
35: After playing 18, 19 and 17 snaps in the first three games, Kevin Givens played nearly twice that because of injuries to Javon Hargrave and an in-game injury to Jordan Elliott (14 snaps) and had 2 1/2 sacks. Givens came in with 6 1/2 career sacks in 60 games and never had more than one in a game previously.
23: Green saw his most extensive time at cornerback after getting no snaps in the opener and four and five in Weeks 2 and 3.
16: Yiadom played just 25 percent of the defensive snaps after having percentages of 76, 63 and 83 percent in the first three games.
4: Cowing got into the mix at wide receiver but injured a shoulder. He also relinquished punt return duties to Juszczyk following the injury.
1: Spencer Burford was the only reserve offensive lineman to to get a snap, subbing for Dominic Puni for a single play when Puni was shaken up.