After Sunday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir spoke candidly about his desire to take on a bigger leadership role in the secondary. The urgency to step up has grown following the season-ending injury to linebacker Fred Warner, who suffered a dislocated and fractured right ankle.
"I like Dmo talking that way," head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday. "Guys who have been here and guys who have played at a higher level, yeah, we need them playing their best at all times, especially in a situation like this."
Shanahan, however, emphasized balance.
"But it doesn't mean that guys just start making stuff up and doing stuff that they don't have to do," the coach continued. "Dmo's been one of our better players here over the last few years, and I love that he is basically, in my opinion, saying he needs to play that way every week now going forward more than ever."
Lenoir recalls the moment Warner went down
Speaking with Bay Area radio station KNBR on Tuesday, Lenoir shared the moment he realized Warner's injury was severe, and spoke of the linebacker's mentality after it happened.
"I was just kind of watching the play, and then I heard him scream," Lenoir said. "He usually don't scream like that. So then, I knew it was kind of bad when I seen all the trainers running out.
"But he was still in good spirits. He wasn't like down on himself. Dealing with an injury like that, you would think somebody would be down, but he was still in good spirits. He was just saying, 'Next man up,' and, 'Just finish the game and keep fighting.'"
Not replacing Warner—but leading in his own way
Lenoir clarified that his goal isn't to take over Warner's role as the defensive quarterback. Shanahan noted that a cornerback can't realistically direct the defense from the edges of the field. Instead, Lenoir aims to become a more vocal leader.
"Just being vocal, I would say, because Fred was kind of the vocal piece," Lenoir explained. "So, now that that's going to be gone, someone's gonna have to fill in, which I feel like myself, where I can fill in, and just [hold] everybody accountable, make sure that we all working as one."
Confidence remains despite key injuries
The veteran cornerback made it clear that he hasn't lost faith in the 49ers' season, even after losing Warner, defensive end Nick Bosa, and the team dealing with several other injuries.
"Oh yeah, I still believe," Lenoir declared. "I still believe that we can still be this great team, just the resiliency in the team that we have. And just to see Fred go down, everybody was still fighting. So, I see that the character of this team is still there, so I feel like we still can go a long way."