49ers’ Warner reveals he’s playing on fractured ankle suffered in Week 4

SANTA CLARA — There seems to be a clear point in the season when 49ers linebacker Fred Warner dropped off from being a strong contender for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Through 3 1/2 games, Warner had 27 tackles, two interceptions and three forced fumbles. Then, Warner sustained an ankle injury just before halftime of the 49ers' Week 4 game against the New England Patriots. Warner on Wednesday revealed he has played the past seven games with a fractured bone in his ankle. "It was a fracture when I sprained it," Warner said. "Any time you fracture a bone, if you continue to play on it, the bone is usually not going to be able to heal itself. So just got to continue to fight through." Warner declined to go into any further specifics of the injury. Warner, in the Oct. 29 game against New England, gave the 49ers a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter with a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown against Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Warner was listed on the 49ers' injury report in Weeks 5 and 6 with the ankle injury. He has not been listed on the team's injury report before any of the six games since that point. Warner and the 49ers' defense struggled Sunday in...