What Warner told the 49ers locker room after the devastating loss to the Vikings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Fred Warner had some poignant and honest comments for his teammates following the 49ers’ frustrating 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

After the game, the three-time All-Pro spoke to the assembled media and explained what he had told the team.

“I told the team there that it’s never going to be a problem that we play hard, we always play hard,” Warner said. “We have so much talent in that room, we’re always going to play hard. But it’s about playing smarter, we’ve got to protect the football, on special teams we can’t allow that blocked punt. And then the game plan on defense, if we say we’ve got to stop the run and be good on third down and we don’t do either of those things, then it’s going to be a long day.”

While Warner played at an All-Pro level, the rest of San Francisco’s defense struggled to contain former 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold and the Vikings due to sloppy play.

The worst of these blunders was the 97-yard touchdown that safety Ji’Ayir Brown allowed to Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson, which completely changed the tenor of the game.

Add to that a blocked punt and a ton of mistakes on offense, as well as some questionable decisions by coach Kyle Shanahan on fourth down, and you have all the ingredients for a bitter defeat.

Although the 49ers are not yet fully healthy, the team had many chances to take control of the game. Every time San Francisco needed a defensive stop or a big offensive play, it wasn’t enough, giving Minnesota the opportunity to take control.

The 49ers are currently 1-1 in the early stages of the 2024 NFL season and have a divisional game against the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday.

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