What Warner told the 49ers locker room after the crushing loss to the Vikings Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
Fred Warner had some direct and honest comments for his 49ers teammates after… A frustrating 23-17 defeat against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at US Bank Stadium.
Speaking to the assembled media after the game, the three-time All-Pro explained what he told the team.
“I told the team it’s never going to be a problem to play hard, we always play hard,” Warner said. “We have so much talent in that room, we’re always going to play hard. But it’s about playing smarter, we’ve got to protect the ball, on special teams, we can’t let them block our punt. And then defensively, the game plan, when we say we’ve got to stop the run and we’ve got to be good on third down and we don’t do any of those things, it’s going to be a long day.”
While Warner played at an All-Pro level, the rest of San Francisco’s defense struggled to contain former 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold and the Vikings due to sloppy play.
The most flagrant of these errors was the 97-yard touchdown blast Safety Ji’Ayir Brown handed the ball off to Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson, which completely changed the tenor of the game.
Add in a blocked punt and a bunch of offensive mistakes along with some questionable decisions on fourth down. By Coach Kyle Shanahan, and you had all the ingredients for a debilitating loss.
While the 49ers still are not completely healthy, The team had plenty of opportunities to take control of the game. Every time San Francisco needed a defensive stop or a big offensive play, It fell short, opening the door for Minnesota to take control.
The 49ers are now 1-1 in the early stages of the 2024 NFL season, with a divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Rams looming next Sunday.