Kyle Shanahan says De’Vondre Campbell ‘didn’t want to play’ for 49ers — and he won’t get to again
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San Francisco 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell was told to take the field during the third quarter of Thursday night’s game against the Rams while his teammates dealt with injuries.
Campbell refused.
It will be the last time he’s seen in a 49ers uniform, coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Friday.
“We’re working through the semantics of exactly how to deal with it,” Shanahan said. “But you guys heard from me last night, you guys heard from our players. His actions from the game is just not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still expect to be a part of our team.”
Shanahan was then asked to confirm he didn’t expect Campbell to be with the club going forward.
“No, I don’t,” the coach responded.
Rams have developed ability to close games by rebounding from a 1-4 start and winning seven of nine, the last one completing a sweep of the NFC West-rival 49ers.
The 49ers have suspended Campbell for the final three games of the regular season for conduct detrimental to the team, general manager John Lynch said Monday in a statement. Campbell signed a one-year, $5-million deal during the offseason.
The 49ers, who have been all but eliminated from playoff contention, also had the option of waiving Campbell, but that would have given him the opportunity to land with another team this season. This way, the team can attempt to recoup a portion of Campbell’s $3.35-million signing bonus.
After a 12-6 loss that dropped the 49ers to 6-8, Shanahan was asked by reporters what happened with Campbell.
“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan added that Campbell had not provided that information to the team until that moment and did not give a reason for his decision. At the end of the fourth quarter, Campbell was seen headed to the locker room. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer said Sunday that Lynch had confronted Campbell on the sideline about refusing to enter the game and then sent the player to the locker room.
Campbell, a nine-year veteran, was signed as a free agent during the offseason to play weakside linebacker while longtime starter Dre Greenlaw recovered from an Achilles injury he sustained during the 49ers’ 25-22 Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in February. Campbell started all but one of the first 13 games, but Greenlaw got the nod Thursday night in his season debut.
Joshua Karty kicked four field goals, Kyren Williams ran for 108 yards and Darious Williams intercepted a fourth-quarter pass as the Rams beat the 49ers again.
Shanahan told reporters the plan had been for Campbell to enter the game for Greenlaw at some point. That opportunity seemed to arise in the third quarter, but Campbell had other ideas.
Star tight end George Kittle said after the game that Campbell made “a selfish decision.”
“I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that,” Kittle said, “and I hope I’m never around anybody who does that again.”
He added: “I don’t like distractions on the sideline. I think that’s ignorant, and I think it’s just dumb. It’s just stupid, and it’s very immature. I just don’t see how you could do something like that to your team.”
Cornerback Charvarius Ward, who returned to the team this month after his 1-year-old daughter died in October, had plenty to say.
Deebo Samuel vented on social media, saying that he’s ‘not struggling at all’ and that he’s ‘just not getting the ball.’ He and the 49ers have a big game Thursday against the Rams.
“He’s a professional. He’s been playing for a long time. If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed out,” Ward said. “He could have told them that before the game. ... Definitely hurt the team, ‘cause you know Dee [Winters] went down and we needed a linebacker. ... For him to do that, that’s some selfish stuff to me, in my opinion. Probably going to get cut soon.”
Shanahan later added: “That’s somebody who doesn’t want to play football. That’s pretty simple. I think our team and myself, we know how we feel about that, so we don’t need to talk about him anymore.”
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