Warner shares details of ankle injury suffered in 49ers' win

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The 49ers sighed with relief when an MRI on the ankle of linebacker Fred Warner came back with good news on Monday.

He did, too.

With just under nine minutes to play in San Francisco’s 23-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Warner went down with a non-contact injury. He did not return to the game. Warner played 59 of the 49ers’ 72 defensive snaps against the Cowboys.

“It was just a change of direction,” Warner described to reporters Tuesday. “My cleat got stuck in the ground. My ankle just kind of folded underneath itself. … After that, it was just sheer pain.”

What originally appeared to be a potential season-ending injury turned out to be Warner aggravating an ankle contusion he originally suffered Week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals. However, the original ankle injury didn’t prevent Warner from suiting up to face the Atlanta Falcons the following week. Warner’s only missed contest this season -- Week 13 against the Seattle Seahawks -- was due to a hamstring issue.

“When I [hurt] my ankle in Cincinnati, I still played the rest of the game even when it happened,” Warner said. “But yeah, it was a reaggravation. I think that’s why it might have felt worse this time around. Re-hurting an open wound kind of situation.”

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Warner, who led the 49ers with 137 tackles during the regular season, was a limited participant in practice Tuesday.

The 49ers’ defense will need him Saturday in its matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Not only do the Packers boast MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, but Green Bay also has a one-two punch in the backfield with the dual-threat Aaron Jones and bruising AJ Dillon.

Jones and Dillon combined for 2,306 total yards and 17 touchdowns for Green Bay during the regular season. San Francisco allowed the duo to tally 122 total yards on 29 touches in the 49ers’ 30-28 loss to the Packers in Week 3.

With the scary ankle injury behind him, though, Warner is feeling positive heading into the divisional round.

“Just the fact that the MRI results came back great -- it was good news for sure,” he said. “Just the way I’ve been feeling gives me a lot of confidence for Saturday.”

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