Fred Warner Credits Steelers LB for Takeaway Prowess
Steelers inside linebacker Kwon Alexander had a great game on Sunday, probably his best in a Pittsburgh uniform.
The recent free agent addition, in his fifth game in black and gold, had six tackles, three of them for a loss, and a key sack of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in the Steelers’ 17-10 win on Sunday.
He also helped force a fumble 2,600 miles away later that evening.
The Steelers are Alexander’s fifth NFL team. A fourth-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2015 NFL Draft, he spent four seasons with the Buccaneers, then parts of two with the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints and one with the New York Jets before coming to Pittsburgh.
During his time in San Francisco, he played alongside a young inside linebacker named Fred Warner, the man who is now considered to be the best in the position around the NFL.
Warner, as Steelers fans who remember their Week 1 drubbing by the 49ers can attest, is having another great season after being selected as an All-Pro for the second time in 2022. But through four games, he had no forced fumbles, no fumble recoveries and no interceptions.
So Warner went back to an old trick that he credited Alexander for teaching him to help get into the right mindset for San Fran’s Sunday Night Football showdown with the Dallas Cowboys.
“(Alexander) meant a lot to me, as a teammate, as a friend,” Warner said during an appearance on Speak on FS1 on Tuesday. “I learned a lot from him. When he came onto our team, he started doing this thing where he would carry a football around. He carried it around on the plane, around the building. Just carrying a football around. I started doing it like he did.
Niners Fans you’ll absolutely love this!
I asked Fred Warner what led to his performance vs the Cowboys, his answer:
“I held the football all week long, around the building, on the plane.” @49ers @TheNinersWire @NinersNation
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) October 10, 2023
“I was doing it along with him while he was here. I stopped doing it. We didn’t have any takeaways (the previous) game against the Cardinals. For whatever reason, I was like, ‘Man, I need to do something to get this ball back on my mind,’ because it’s been hovering around me. I’ve been tipping a ball up to (49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga) almost every game. I’m like, man, I need to get me one. It’s my turn.”
Warner certainly took his turn. He had a violent forced fumble on a hit on Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, sacked Dak Prescott and hauled in an interception after a tipped pass.
Fred Warner knocks it free and the @49ers recover it! 💯
📺: #DALvsSF on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/gzzkvIRUdj pic.twitter.com/GP4jQbWhhJ— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2023
“I held that football in my arm all week long around the building and had it on my mind, all the way up to that first snap. To say that I was thinking about that punch-out, when I had it on TP, it really wasn’t even a thought about it. It was just a reaction. It was an instinct that happened when I got to him.
“If you watch me that entire game, I’m trying to punch the ball out. I’m trying to do whatever I can to help the team win.”
Alexander has not been carrying a ball around the Steelers facility this season, but he showed his appreciation for Warner thinking about his lesson on X.
“That’s love!” https://twitter.com/kwon/status/1712235022860562489?s=20″>Alexander
wrote. “Keep it on ya mind and it’s going to find ya! Proud of ya bro!”
Alexander doesn’t have a turnover this season, either. So maybe this week, he’ll be taking his own advice.
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