49ers open Fred Warner’s practice window in hopes of playoff comeback

SANTA CLARA – Linebacker Fred Warner, three months since ankle surgery will resume practicing with the 49ers today, in the hopes he can suit up in the NFC Championship Game should they upset No. 1 Seattle on Saturday night.

“We’re opening his window so he can do some stuff,” coach Kyle Shanahan announced Tuesday. “But we’re not doing much, so he’ll walk-through out there with us today and things like that. We’re hoping he can be ready for next week.”

The No. 6-seed 49ers (13-5) knocked off the defending Super Bowl-champion Eagles 23-19 in Philadelphia on Sunday to at least keep Warner’s comeback hopes alive. But first they’ll need to upset the Seahawks in a divisional-round game Saturday that opens at 5 p.m. at Lumen Field, where the 49ers opened their season with a fourth-quarter comeback win.

Warner, a four-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler, sustained a fractured and dislocated right ankle in the 49ers’ Week 6 loss at Tampa Bay. By opening Warner’s window to come off Injured Reserve, the 49ers officially have three weeks to evaluate whether to activate him; the NFC Championship Game will be Jan. 25, and Super Bowl LX is Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium.

There was no media access to what Shanahan said would be a walk-through session with no full speed or offense-vs.-defense action. Players will talk to reporters afterward, though the 49ers only want them at the facility for 3 1/2 hours, or half their usual time commitment.

On Monday, Warner posted an Instagram video showing him doing agility drills with a trainer on the 49ers’ practice field, where he was spotted by media last Thursday for the first time since his injury. He vowed from Day 1 to make a “legendary” comeback, drawing on a phrase that former teammate Kwon Alexander introduced to the 49ers’ lexicon in their 2019 team’s run to the Super Bowl.

“The road ends here,” Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu commented on Instagram.

Shanahan’s response to such social-media banter  is that it’s “fake entertainment. … Just having fun.”

Warner underwent surgery Oct. 14, and throughout his rehabilitation process, he’s cheered on the 49ers’ home games from a luxury suite with his family. Warner missed the 49ers’ last home game, a 13-3 loss to Seattle on Jan. 3, to attend the birth of his daughter.

Shanahan said Warner hasn’t badgered him about speeding up his comeback.

“That’s not Fred’s style totally,” Shanahan said. “He does that by showing how hard he’s working on the side and knows we’re watching. He knows he doesn’t have to do that for me. As soon as he’s ready, obviously there will be zero decision on my part.”

Shanahan said that decision otherwise rests with the 49ers’ medical staff as Warner must past baseline tests before getting cleared.

The 49ers have started three other linebackers in his place the past three months, with Tatum Bethune and Curtis Robinson eventually yielding to Eric Kendricks for his starting debut Sunday in Philadelphia, where Kendricks broke up a fourth-down pass to secure the wild-card win.

NOTES: Tight end George Kittle will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair his right Achilles, which ruptured in the first half of Sunday’s game.