Warner describes mood in 49ers locker room after first loss of season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
For five straight weeks, Fred Warner and the 49ers used to a lively atmosphere in the locker room after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys.
But after their perfect 5-0 record was shattered in a 2-point, last-second loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Warner described the mood in the locker room after their first loss of the 2023 NFL season.
“The atmosphere in the dressing room after that obviously wasn’t the best,” Warner told his wife and co-host Sydney Warner on “The Warner House.” “It was down. You walk in and guys are sitting in their lockers looking down. We talked about it going into the game, we knew it was going to be a tough battle, but we knew it was a game we should have won
Warner admitted that the team had become so used to the win that they were a little happy about the loss. While Sunday’s game could be viewed as a humbling lesson, Warner believes the 49ers are setting a standard for themselves to do better. And after his first loss since January, the All-Pro linebacker doesn’t want to be in the same situation again.
“The other thing that people don’t realize is that we’re not used to losing, which is a great thing,” Warner continued. “It should sting because we’re not used to losing. If we were used to losing, we’d go in there like, ‘Oh, well.’ We hope to get them next time. No, the standard won every week. So to start the season 5-0 and then lose a game, it’s like, “Oh my God, I forgot what that felt like.” We haven’t lost a game since last year’s NFC Championship Game. So that’s good for us.
“You get scars in your career, you get scars when you go through tough things. I feel like I already have a lot of scars, I don’t need more scars. But that scar makes me feel that way, so later, when you’re in that moment, you’re like, “Oh, I don’t want to feel that anymore.” I need something to happen.’ That doesn’t mean I haven’t already thought that, but you just learn from it. It’s a lesson, never a defeat.”
San Francisco (5-1) gets an extra day to prepare for a Week 7 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings (2-4) under the bright lights of “Monday Night Football” USA. at the bank stadium. After an eye-popping loss in Cleveland, the 49ers are looking to get back into the win column.
