San Francisco 49ers standout linebacker Fred Warner will not make his return from an ankle injury Saturday night in the divisional round playoff matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan has elected not to waver from his initial plan to prepare Warner for the NFC championship game on Jan. 25 — should the Niners advance that far.
“We feel confident in that,” Shanahan said. “We’ll see if it works out.”
Out since Oct. 12 with a fractured and dislocated right ankle, Warner told local media Wednesday that he is proceeding “day by day” and had not ruled out playing as soon as this weekend.
The four-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro was a limited participant in practice Tuesday and Wednesday before being held out Thursday.
Limited to six appearances in the regular season, Warner also missed San Francisco’s 23-19 win in the wild-card round against the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. Eric Kendricks was promoted from the practice squad to start at middle linebacker.
Warner joined the 49ers as a third-round draft pick in 2018 and has posted 948 tackles, 17 forced fumbles, 10 sacks and 10 interceptions in 121 games (all starts).
San Francisco also ruled out safety Ji’Ayir Brown (hamstring), who got hurt last week against the Eagles. Linebackers Luke Gifford (quadriceps) and Dee Winters (ankle) and wide receivers Ricky Pearsall (knee) and Jacob Cowing (hamstring) are listed as questionable.
