Warner, 2 other 49ers picked for Pro Bowl
Linebacker Fred Warner is officially a Pro Bowler, having earned enough recognition in his third season to garner that firsttime honor Monday, along with 49ers teammates fullback Kyle Juszczyk and left tackle Trent Williams.
Warner’s rise to prominence came with a strong endorsement last month from Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers.
“Ain’t nobody better. There really isn’t,” a mic’dup Rodgers told Warner after the 49ers’ Nov. 5 home loss. “You’re the best and everybody knows it. The film don’t lie. You should be All-Pro.”
There will be no actual Pro Bowl game or trip, but a Jan. 31 broadcast special featuring highlights and a virtual competition via EA Madden.
Warner and Seattle Seahawks’ Bobby Wagner are the NFC’s Pro Bowl inside linebackers. Wagner led that position in fan voting; players and coaches account for the other share of votes.
Warner is the 49ers’ leading tackling for a third straight year, but what makes him so dynamic is his coverage ability, to say nothing of leadership that made him a captain this season.
His accountable, pensive
demeanor has come across well as the team’s primary spokesman, a role that fell on him as injuries took out more outspoken veterans such as George Kittle, Richard Sherman and Jimmy Garoppolo.
“We can talk about COVID and injuries, all that has a factor and means something, but we just gotta play complementary football,” Warner said after Sunday’s 41- 33 loss at Dallas. “Obviously you can hear the frustration in my voice. It’s just because I care. I hate losing.
“We’ve got to change something ,” Warner added. “You have to look at yourself first and foremost, because you can’t keep doing the same things over and over again and expect different results.”
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh took his praise of Warner to its highest level yet last week: “I will be biased and say that he is by far, by far the best middle linebacker in football. It’s not even close in my opinion. With what he does and what we ask him to do and his energy, his positive energy, his leadership, his off the field stuff, you can’t make them like that, not very often anyway.”
Warner is eligible for a contract extension once the 49ers (5- 9) finish out their season. Perhaps more urgent financial needs are to retain Juszczyk and Williams, who are both slated for free agency.
Juszczyk earned Pro Bowl honors for his fourth straight season since joining the 49ers as the highest-paid fullback in NFL history. That contract is expiring, as are 40 teammates’.
Juszczyk has said he’s informally talked with coach Kyle Shana han about returning. If Juszczyk leaves, he’ll have put in four solid years, as he did with his original team, the Baltimore Ravens.
Juszczyk has scored two touchdowns both rushing and receiving. The 49ers have tapped more into him as a short-yardage rusher (career-high 15 carries, 61 yards). He has 16 receptions for 188 yards, and he could have more if not for a couple overthrows in the open field.
Williams is a Pro Bowler for the eighth consecutive season in which he’s played. Cancer surgery kept him from playing last season to conclude a Washington tenure that began with him as the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2010.
Williams has missed only one game this year — a Nov. 5 loss to the Green Bay Packers, because he was a high- risk contact to teammate Kendrick Bourne, who tested positive for COVID-19. Williams endured his own bout with the coronavirus two weeks later during the bye week, and he returned in time to help lead the 49ers to their last win, Nov. 29 at the Los Angeles Rams.
Last year, Juszczyk, Kittle, Sherman and Nick Bosa were the 49ers’ quartet named Pro Bowl starters, while alternate status went to Warner, Garoppolo, Joe Staley, Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner, Raheem Mostert, Weston Richburg and Jimmie Ward.