The San Francisco 49ers struggled with injuries in Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, losing two more defensive players. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, one of the team’s last options at the position, faced backlash for refusing to play late in the game.
ESPN reported that the team lost linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Dee Winters to knee and neck injuries during the third quarter. Head coach Kyle Shanahan turned to Campbell to enter the game, but the 31-year-old veteran declined the invitation, leaving the team’s last healthy linebacker, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, to replace him.
Campbell refuses to play as 49ers lose two linebackers to injury
“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said.
Campbell spent the fourth quarter in the locker room without playing a single snap. The 49ers’ 12-6 loss at Levi’s Stadium left the coach and several teammates visibly upset. In a post-game press conference, Shanahan did not explain why Campbell refused to play but emphasized that his decision echoed on the sidelines.
“People noticed, but when someone says that, you move on,” Shanahan 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 we don’t need to talk about him anymore.”
Teammates speak out
Whether Campbell will be released from the team remains unclear, but Shanahan remarked, “We’ll figure out something.”
Linebacker Fred Warner and defensive end Nick Bosa were among the teammates with limited knowledge of the situation and declined to comment. However, several teammates openly criticized Campbell for his actions.
“I’m a leader on the team, and if that is something that is being a distraction on the sideline, I would’ve loved to voice my own opinion in the moment,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said. “And we’re past that moment. So, it doesn’t matter what I wish I could have said or wish I could have done, but 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.”
He continued, “It’s one person making a selfish decision. I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that, and I hope I’m never around anybody who does that again.”
‘That’s some sucka stuff to me’
Cornerback Charvarius Ward, who recently lost his 1-year-old daughter, had the most to say about Campbell after Thursday night’s game.
“He’s a professional,” Ward said. “He’s been playing for a long time. If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed out. He could have told them that before the game. I feel like that was some sucka s— that he did. It definitely hurt the team. Dee went down and we needed a linebacker. … So, for him to do that, that’s some sucka stuff to me, in my opinion. He’s probably going to get cut soon, so it is what it is with that.”
Campbell has played seven seasons in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. He signed with the 49ers in March and has appeared in 12 of the team’s 13 games, serving as one of the few remaining linebackers due to mounting injuries, per ESPN and The Sun.
