San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dee Winters looked right at home playing alongside Fred Warner on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. The performance was exactly what the 49ers hoped for from the third-year linebacker, who recorded six tackles, including two for a loss, in the 17-13 win over their division rivals.
Warner has long praised Winters and was thrilled by the young linebacker's showing in the season opener.
"It was amazing to see. I'm not surprised at all," Warner said Wednesday. "He earned that moment to go out there and make a lot of plays for us. And we're gonna need him in a big way, moving forward. He knows that, and he doesn't have to do anything out of his job or assignment. Our job, like I said before, is to go out there and be relentless every single play, and he showed that play in and play out on Sunday."
Winters stepped into the role once held by Dre Greenlaw and has worked tirelessly this offseason to seize the opportunity—even after the 49ers seemingly drafted Nick Martin to take over the Will linebacker spot. Winters entered training camp as the frontrunner for the job and never lost ground.
That said, Warner admitted he wasn't always certain Winters would become a force on the 49ers' defense.
"It's been a huge, huge, huge improvement," Warner said of Winters' play. "I remember when Dee came in as a rookie and seeing him in OTAs and rookie minicamp, and I'm thinking like, 'Boy, I don't know. I don't know if he's got a chance.'"
Warner laughed and added, "But he actually has shown me that you can't judge a rookie by the first impression. Sometimes it takes guys a little longer to figure it out, and he's figured it out in a big way. And he's only continuing to get better and just scratching the surface."
Acknowledging that he can be tough on teammates, Warner hesitated to declare that Winters has fully arrived as an NFL player but made it clear the rookie is on the right track.
"You never have it, but man, he's doing a really good job," Warner concluded.