Shanahan Just Revealed Crucial News on George Kittle, Fred Warner, and the Health of Key 49ers Stars.QQ

The San Francisco 49ers not only lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but what hurts the most is Fred Warner’s ankle injury, a season-ending loss from which there’s no way to fully recover. It’s the same thing we mentioned when Nick Bosa was injured. The defense has no way to replace players of that caliber. These are players who will be in the Hall of Fame in the future. You can’t replace that quality. You have to make a huge collective effort for the defense to move forward. One thing that can help the team is getting some of its stars back on offense. In that regard, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had some news on Monday. He also confirmed Warner’s ankle injury and announced when his surgery will be scheduled.

“Yesterday’s injuries: Fred Warner did fracture and dislocate his ankle. His surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. There’s nothing more on the game at this time,” Shanahan said.

He added that he doesn’t have an exact recovery timeline for Fred and doesn’t expect him to return this season. However, he does expect him to be ready for offseason workouts.

“No, I don’t. No. I don’t expect him to be ready this year,” Shanahan said. “Yes, I would think it’s a strong possibility (of Warner’s return in the offseason). I think things like this take about three months. But I haven’t asked all the questions you’re asking me yet, but I assume he’ll be ready for offseason workouts and things like that,” Shanahan explained.

Kittle’s Return and Updates on Other Injuries
The coach then gave us more updates on players who were already injured and missed the game against Tampa Bay. Among them was George Kittle, who was placed on injured reserve after the Week 1 game against the Seattle Seahawks with a hamstring injury.

“Updates on players who missed the game. We have Jordan Watkins with his calf injury, and we hope to have him back for practice this week. Ricky Pearsall with his knee; we’re still evaluating him. To see if he can return this week, we’ll have to see him on Wednesday. Brock Purdy is similar with his toe injury. Hopefully, he can come back and do a little more this week. Yetur Gross-Matos with his hamstring will have to continue rehabbing. And our players on IR, Kevin Givens, will continue to practice, and we’re hoping to get George Kittle back for practice this week,” Shanahan said.

Kyle added that the hope is Kittle can play on Sunday. The coach was also asked how Brandon Aiyuk’s recovery from his knee injury is going.

“Yeah, there’s no exact timeline. I mean, I always look at how it was around Week 10, but we’re not putting an exact date on that. I know he’s rehabbing really hard and has had some good weeks here. Hopefully, he’s getting closer and closer, which I think he is. But, no, we’re not offering an exact date,” Shanahan said.