What went through the minds of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf in the moments leading up to their scuffle in the fourth quarter of the 49ers' win over the Seahawks on Sunday?
Each player gave their answer to that question after the game, with one player clearly taking a more light-hearted mindset towards the incident than the other.
The scuffle took place in the fourth quarter of the 49ers' 28-16 win at Levi's Stadium on a play where Warner intercepted a pass from Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock. Warner lateraled the ball to teammate Dre Greenlaw after the interception, and shortly after the lateral Metcalf tackled Warner in a way that resembled a suplex. Warner got off the turf and gave a shove to the back of Metcalf's head, which Metcalf took exception to and responded to by grabbing Warner's face mask. A brief fracas ensued, which included a shove on Metcalf from 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. Metcalf and Lenoir were ejected after the skirmish.
Deommodore Lenoir and DK Metcalf have been ejected after this!
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) December 10, 2023
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Warner was asked about the incident following the game and responded with a tongue-in-cheek answer.
"Yeah, I don't know what happened, man," Warner said. "I told him he tackles really well, and then for some reason, he didn't like that. I guess what happened, happened, and it's unfortunate. (He's) got to learn to keep his composure, but happy we came out with the dub."
Metcalf was understandably not in as much of a mood to joke about the incident after a challenging game that saw him limited to two catches after he got off to a quick start with a first quarter touchdown. But he fully explained what he was thinking during the skirmish, saying he was retaliating after being hit by Warner.
"If you want to call it frustration, yeah, it was frustration," Metcalf said. "But from my side, he hit me in the back of the head. So I just retaliated from that."
Metcalf justified his suplex of Warner by saying he was making a defensive play because he thought Warner still had the ball.
"When I see a pick, I turn into a defensive player," Metcalf said. "Defensive players don't get mad when they tackle me and suplex me like that. That's what I was doing. I was making a tackle for my team."
It remains to be seen if any extra punishment comes from the league towards Metcalf, Warner or Lenoir. There were those who believed Lenoir shouldn't have gotten ejected for his shove (Lenoir was also seen getting physical with another Seahawks player, however), but Warner was appreciative of it even if he would prefer his teammate didn't get involved.
"I know what Demo is made of. He ain't got to show me nothing out there," Warner said. "I don't want him hurting himself, you know what I'm saying? So hurting himself or hurting the team, we know what he's made of. Ain't nothing to prove out there, but I always appreciate guys protecting each other out there. So that doesn't surprise me one bit."
