SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Linebacker Fred Warner took a significant step toward a potential playoff return as the San Francisco 49ers began preparations for Saturday's showdown with the Seattle Seahawks.
The Niners opened Warner's 21-day practice window on Tuesday, clearing the path for him to possibly be available for the NFC Championship Game after dislocating and fracturing his right ankle in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 12.
"We're opening his window, so he can do some stuff like that," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Again, we're not doing much [in practice], so he'll walk through out there with us today and things like that. But hoping he can be ready for next week."
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As Shanahan pointed out, the 49ers will not be doing much on-field or full-speed work this week as they prepare for the Seahawks. It is the third time in four weeks that the Niners have played with less than a full week's worth of rest.
That means Warner will not get a chance to do much aside from walkthroughs, but since Tuesday is 26 days from the Super Bowl, it made sense to open his practice window now because the season is going to end close to when his 21 days would end and the Niners would have to decide whether to activate him.
Warner said on the "Ryen Russillo Show" this week that he is "ready whenever they're ready," adding that he's "pushing, training hard" and "back doing full football drills."
Warner was spotted last Thursday doing some drills on a side field for the first since the injury and then posted some footage of him going through drills on his Instagram account.
Shanahan said Tuesday that Warner hasn't been pushing him behind the scenes to return earlier, at least not verbally.
"That's not Fred's style totally," Shanahan said. "He does that by showing how hard he's working on the side and knows that we're watching."
Warner has been on injured reserve since mid-October and missed the final 12 games of the regular season as well as Sunday's NFC wild card win against the Philadelphia Eagles. And while he is trending in a positive direction, he still has plenty of steps to clear medically before he can play again this season.
"I approach it by what doctors tell me," Shanahan said. "I'm like Fred; if he feels good and tells me he's good, I'm probably going to think he's good and trust him to get out there. But you can't always think with your heart and emotionally, so you ask doctors where he's at -- all the things that these guys have to pass, just protocols that we have in, just sprinting and jumping and things like that. And he's got to hit all those before we feel safe."
Elsewhere on the injury front, 49ers tight end George Kittle is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday for his torn right Achilles and will go on injured reserve this week.
Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who has missed the past two games with knee and ankle injuries, is slated to be a limited participant in Tuesday's walkthrough with the same designation for left tackle Trent Williams (hamstring), defensive linemen Keion White (groin, hamstring) and Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) and guard Dominick Puni (ankle).
Linebackers Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quad) and safety Ji'Ayir Brown (hamstring) will not practice.
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