SANTA CLARA — Fred Warner has taken over a new type of leadership role at the 49ers facility since suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

Tatum Bethune , who is holding down the middle linebacker role for the All-Pro, shared that Warner still is available as a resource for the linebackers room but is pushing for the young group to experience games -- and their aftermath -- on their own.

“Fred is kind of letting us learn,” Bethune said Wednesday. “He’s teaching us too, but moments like this, he’s letting us learn and figure it out and just get better from it. Because if someone is babysitting you and telling you what you need to do all the time, you’re not really going to understand what’s going on.

“He’s there for us, but he’s letting us learn, too.”

Warner has been a captain since

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