[49ers Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell Refuses to Play, May Not Return This Season
San Francisco 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refused to play in the team’s 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, and head coach Kyle Shanahan does not expect him to play again this season.
Campbell was asked to enter the game in the third quarter after Dre Greenlaw, who was making his season debut, felt some soreness, but Campbell refused, walking to the locker room shortly afterward. Shanahan said Friday that Campbell gave no reason for his decision not to play, and the team is “working through the semantics of it.”
Shanahan also stated that he doesn’t expect Campbell to be with the team for Week 16 or beyond. “When someone says that, you move on. You don’t deal with that anymore,” he said. “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, I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.”
Tight end George Kittle also spoke out about Campbell’s decision, calling it “selfish.” “Look, if you’re on the roster and you suit up, you’re expected to play,” Kittle said. “I think anyone in this building that got asked to go in, I would say 100% of everybody would die to get on that football field. And so, people go through, are going through random things off the field, I can’t speak on that. Whatever his decision was, it wasn’t for this organization, it wasn’t for this team and that’s on him. So, I’m not very happy about it. I wish I would’ve heard about it on the field, but I didn’t. Now, is that the reason we lost? Absolutely not. But it’s hard to win football games when someone doesn’t want to play football. Especially, when you’re suited up, it kinda puts you down, especially when you lose two linebackers and could have dressed another one.”
San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward, who was playing in his third game since the death of his daughter, was also critical of Campbell’s actions. “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, he coulda told them that before the game,” Ward said. “So, I feel like that was some sucka shit he did. Definitely hurt the team. Cause Dee (Greenlaw) went down, and we needed a linebacker. That’s some sucka stuff to me, in my opinion. Probably gonna get cut soon, so it is what it is with that.”
The Rams won the game 12-6, with three field goals in the fourth quarter securing the victory. The win improves their record to 8-6, giving them a 50% chance of clinching a playoff spot, while the 49ers drop to 6-8 and sit in last place in the NFC West with their chances for a playoff berth falling to under one percent.
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