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Fred Warner will undergo surgery on his dislocated and fractured ankle Tuesday, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed on Monday that the team expects him to miss the rest of this season.

“We know that he’ll come back stronger than ever next year,” Shanahan said.

The 49ers expect tight end George Kittle, who injured his hamstring Week 1, to return to practice this week. They’ll evaluate quarterback Brock Purdy (toe) and receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee) — both seem to have at least an outside shot of returning for the 49ers’ next game on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Here are snap counts and grades from the 49ers’ 30-19 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Quarterback: Mac Jones (69 snaps)
Game grade: C+

Jones had earned folk hero status for his work as Purdy’s backup and nothing that happened Sunday should change that. This was another gutsy effort — Jones even needed a pregame painkilling injection just to play. And then he made several beautiful throws, even as Tampa Bay blitzed him aggressively and huge defensive tackle Vita Vea collapsed the middle of the 49ers’ O-line.

But there’s a reason that Jones is a backup while Purdy is the 49ers’ $53 million man, and the primary one is the mobility difference between the two quarterbacks. The 49ers badly needed Purdy’s ability to extend plays against the Bucs’ blitzes. And if they’re to attain elite-level offensive play once their stars return, Purdy’s escapability is a mandatory ingredient. 

Running back/fullback: Christian McCaffrey (64), Brian Robinson Jr. (5), Kyle Juszczyk (25)
Game grade: A

McCaffrey, who rushed for 54 yards on 17 carries, is doing what he can on the ground. At long last, the 49ers punched in their first rushing touchdown of this 2025 season. But a struggling interior O-line without leverage-boosting help from Kittle is a bad combination.

With rushing room hard to come by, McCaffrey continues churning out catches in the receiving game. He had seven of them for 57 yards.

Wide receiver: Kendrick Bourne (55), Jauan Jennings (53), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (42), Demarcus Robinson (13), Skyy Moore (3)
Game grade: C+

Yes, the wideouts are making plays in the pass game.

But they’re not blocking well in the run game. Bourne and Robinson both scored under 60 in Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grade, and although Jennings graded out better — 79.8 — his offensive pass interference penalty on a swing pass to McCaffrey stalled a promising drive.

Jennings, playing with five broken ribs and an ankle injury, is battling just to be out on the field. The 49ers can really use perimeter blocking help from Kittle, a Ricky Pearsall return and — gasp — maybe even a cameo from Brandon Aiyuk (a fantastic run blocker) down the stretch.

Tight end: Jake Tonges (57), Luke Farrell (27), Brayden Willis (1)
Game grade: C

Farrell did deliver his best game run blocking as a 49er, but Bucs DB Jamel Dean blew by him on a blitz to strip sack Jones early on. Kittle should return this week and the 49ers’ tight end rotation will be interesting to track because Tonges has made a strong case for continued playing time. Maybe the 49ers can use Kittle to supplement their perimeter muscle while keeping both Farrell and Tonges on the field in an effort to get the run game going.

Offensive line: Trent Williams (69), Connor Colby (69), Jake Brendel (69), Dominick Puni (69), Colton McKivitz (69)
Game grade: D+

Offensive tackle play is not the problem. Williams (No. 7) and McKivitz (No. 15) are graded among the top linemen at their respective positions.

But the 49ers are leaking oil on the interior. Puni scored in PFF’s 89th percentile among guards as a rookie; he’s down to the 24th percentile now (Puni allowed a team-high six pressures, most surrendered in a tough matchup with Tampa Bay behemoth Vita Vea). Colby is a struggling rookie; perhaps Ben Bartch is close to returning from injured reserve. And Brendel’s play has drawn the wrath (opens in new tab) of diehard 49ers fan Richard Sherman (it’s still wild to type that).

Defensive line: Mykel Williams (38), Bryce Huff (24), Jordan Elliott (26), Kalia Davis (24), Sam Okuayinonu (40), Alfred Collins (28), CJ West (17), Trevis Gipson (16)
Game grade: D-

With Nick Bosa and Yetur Gross-Matos both out, this projected to be a really tough day up front. This was the thinnest 49ers’ D-line group in quite some time. On paper, only Huff had scored as an above-average pass rusher.

The game went as poorly as advertised. Although Williams notched his first career sack right after Warner’s injury, matters unraveled shortly thereafter. Defensive linemen combined to notch only seven pressures. Ironically, the game’s most damaging play — Baker Mayfield’s epic scramble on third-and-14 — came after Huff and Gipson beat the O-linemen in front of them. But they couldn’t bring down Mayfield.

Linebackers: Warner (8), Dee Winters (53), Tatum Bethune (45), Luke Gifford (21)
Game grade: D

Will the 49ers make a move (opens in new tab) designed to fill at least some of the leadership void created by Warner’s injury? New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams, a favorite of 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, might fit that role. Winters has had a rough go of it following his fast start and Bethune — now wearing the helmet with the play-calling radio in it — has been thrown to the wolves.

Players of Warner’s caliber don’t exist, but some veteran tutelage can go a long way toward maximizing the 49ers’ developmental projects of this season.

Safeties: Marques Sigle (32), Ji’Ayir Brown (27), Malik Mustapha (21)
Game grade: D-

The 49ers replaced Jason Pinnock with Brown as a starter before also working Mustapha, in his return from an ACL tear, back into the mix. They’re clearly prioritizing youth with these maneuvers, as Sigle — following another rough day in pass coverage — has now allowed an NFL-high 333 receiving yards on the season.

Pinnock played only two snaps on special teams. It’s possible that the 49ers are preserving him as a potentially tradable asset. The Green Bay Packers need a safety and they have edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare, whom the 49ers have reportedly (opens in new tab) expressed interest in.

Cornerbacks: Deommodore Lenoir (53), Renardo Green (53), Upton Stout (30)
Game grade: C+

The 49ers’ corners combined to allow only seven catches for 91 yards. The problem is that Mayfield was more than comfortable targeting safeties and linebackers. But with Warner down, Lenoir and Green are undoubtedly now the ringleaders of the defense. Stout remains a work in progress; he took an atrocious angle on Mayfield during the fateful scramble.

But that’s one of the growing pains that Saleh promised was coming this season. Who knew that rookies make rookie mistakes?

Special teams grade: A-

Eddy Piñeiro drilled four more field goals, thrusting himself into No. 2 on the all-time accuracy list.

This is the one area where the math has changed for the better. The 49ers added 6.7 expected points on special teams in this game (they lost 5.4 and 15.9 expected points, respectively, on offense and defense). Their special teams tally has finished in the positives over four of five games with Piñeiro.

Long story short: Piñeiro gives the 49ers a previously nonexistent cushion. Their defense doesn’t even have to be good; it just must avoid the type of total collapse that was on display in Tampa. A top-shelf offense combined with an excellent kicking game is enough to keep any NFL team interesting.