The San Francisco 49ers rewarded Fred Warner with a 5-year, $95 million contract extension during the offseason. The star linebacker looked to be worth every penny of that deal with how he played in his first three NFL seasons. Warner recorded four sacks, 14 quarterback hits, three interceptions, and five forced fumbles during that span.
This season, Warner has no sacks, no quarterback hits, no interceptions, and no forced fumbles. His Pro Football Focus grade of 71.3 is the second-highest of his career, but a significant drop from the career-high grade of 88.6 earned last season. In pass coverage, opposing quarterbacks have completed 20 passes and a touchdown on 24 targets in Warner's direction, per Pro Football Focus. The 83.3 percent completion percentage given up this season is the highest of the linebacker's career.
"I think when I'm firing, I think the defense is firing," Warner said this week. "I full-heartedly believe that, and I put a lot of pressure on my shoulders to be that for the team. ... Like I always say, nobody has higher expectations for myself than me. So, I'm just going to keep grinding. When I put that '54' jersey, it's on."
Warner knows his 2021 campaign hasn't been his best. He wants to improve so the 49ers can crawl out of the 3-5 hole in which they've dug themselves.
"I always want to do more," Warner said. "I always want to be the guy. I want to be the one who helps make plays for this defense. And something I've learned is the harder you press for that, the less chance you're going to get that.
"So it's more so just taking a step back, seeing where I can focus my attention on the details, my fundamentals, my technique. And at the end of the day, just putting on tape, that relentless play that I've always played with, letting that seep, come through, show through the tape."
Warner's coach, defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, does not doubt that the star linebacker will prove to everyone that he's a player worthy of the lucrative contract.
"Yeah, I think Fred is fine. Fred will be fine," Ryans said on Friday. "Like I talked about earlier, he doesn't need to press. He doesn't need to press and feel like he has to do something special or extraordinary. Fred just has to be Fred and go play like he's always played.
"He doesn't have to put extra on his back and do more because we don't have this guy or that guy. He just has to go. He just has to go play and be Fred, and everyone around Fred has to play better as well. So it's not just on Fred. Every player should look at themselves internally and always want to do better and be better for the team.
"That's everyone. It's not just Fred. It's everyone on the team. We all expect it, I tell guys you should expect the best out of yourself, and he knows what he's capable of doing, and Fred will be fine. He just has to keep playing ball."
Warner is one of the 49ers' "A" players. Now, he has to go onto the football field and show everyone why. That starts on Monday night at Levi's Stadium against Matthew Stafford and the high-powered Los Angeles Rams offense.
"'A' players have got to play like 'A' players," Warner said. "And I think the guys who might have that standard to them, I think we all hold ourselves to such a high standard as it is, that we're trying everything in our power to try to be at our best and make the plays that we need to make. We got to help bring everybody else along with us. But at the end of the day, if you're an 'A' player, you've got to play like an 'A' player."