It really does seem like the San Francisco 49ers cannot go one week without suffering a major injury. They were already duct-taped heading into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup, missing their key WRs and defensive linemen. But tonight’s 19-30 loss might’ve delivered the gut punch of the season.

Linebacker Fred Warner went down with what looked like a gruesome leg injury. One of those you don’t want to see twice on replay. His leg twisted the wrong way, the cart came out, and the air cast followed. Bucs’ head coach Todd Bowles‘ reaction summed it up.

“It breaks your heart,” Bowles said. “Man, it was sick… you saw there what happened. He is one of the best players in the league. Great guy on top of that. Hate to see something like that and hopefully has a speedy recovery. Kinda Breaks your heart, no matter what side of the ball you’re on.”

Yes, it was that bad. It happened with just 8 minutes remaining in the first quarter. On a first-and-10 from Tampa Bay’s 36, Rachaad White broke off a 10-yard run to the left side. Warner went in to wrap him up, but in the chaos, safety Ji’Ayir Brown rolled into the back of Warner’s right ankle.

You could see Brown’s reaction instantly: he knew it was bad. Within seconds, the cart was on the field.

It’s cruel, almost, considering how good Warner has been this season. He was well on pace for a Defensive Player of the Year type season: 50 tackles, two forced fumbles through five games. The LB kept the defense clicking amidst a plethora of injuries. He even had a tackle early in this game before everything changed.

The team tried to rally after Warner went down. Rookie Mykel Williams got a sack on the very next third down, and for a moment, it looked like they were feeding off the emotion. But the Niners went into halftime down 20–16 and couldn’t find any second-half spark. And Kyle Shanahan didn’t have any good news in the post-game presser, either.

Kyle Shanahan confirmed the worst

You could tell how bad it was going to be as soon as the incident took place. And Kyle Shanahan confirmed the worst possible scenario after the game. Warner suffered a broken and dislocated ankle and will need surgery. Recovery time for that kind of injury? Around 12 weeks or more. That’s his season, gone.

“It sucks losing Fred,” Shanahan said. “We know that. We’ll deal with that after the game. But we’ve got two quarters to play, and we need everyone’s best,” he added.

And honestly, that might be the final straw for this defense. They already lost Nick Bosa a few weeks ago to a torn ACL, and the front line hasn’t been the same since.

On top of that, the offense is barely staying afloat. Brock Purdy is dealing with a toe injury, George Kittle’s hamstring is still an issue, and the wide receiver room looks like an infirmary. But tonight’s loss might end up being the biggest setback for Kyle Shanahan this season.

Since being drafted in the third round back in 2017, Warner has been the 49ers’ backbone. He’s racked up four straight first-team All-Pro selections and was even named NFC Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season after his 11-tackle, one forced fumble game against the Saints.

It’s no stretch to say that Warner (alongside backup QB Mac Jones) was one of the few reasons the 49ers were sitting at 4–1 despite all the injury chaos. Now? Without him, things could unravel fast. San Francisco’s defense has always been its backbone, but when you start pulling out key pieces one by one, even the strongest teams crumble.