San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said linebacker De’Vondre Campbell will no longer be part of the 49ers after he refused to enter a game following the loss of his starting position.
Shanahan explained that the team is still working on how to handle Campbell, who walked to the locker room during a 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night after refusing to play.
“His actions from the game are not something you can do to your team or teammates and still expect to be a part of our team,” Shanahan said on Friday. “We’re working through the semantics right now, but we’ll handle the situation appropriately.”
Shanahan stated that Campbell will not be with the team for the last three weeks of the season. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams can suspend players for up to four games without pay for conduct that harms the team.
The 49ers might also choose to waive Campbell, which would allow him to potentially be claimed or signed by another team. Campbell signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the 49ers in March.
Campbell had started 12 of the first 13 games of the season and played 90% of the defensive snaps, but he was benched Thursday night after Dre Greenlaw returned from an Achilles tendon injury.
When the 49ers wanted to put Campbell back in the game in the third quarter because Greenlaw was experiencing soreness in his Achilles, Campbell refused, which Shanahan said was something he had never encountered in his coaching career. Shanahan also said he has not received any explanation from Campbell for his refusal to play.
Campbell then walked off the field with a towel over his head and went to the locker room before the game ended, which almost cost the 49ers their playoff chances. Shanahan said he didn’t tell Campbell to leave the field and didn’t know why he did so.
“Once I found out he wasn’t playing, I moved on to people we could count on,” Shanahan said. Campbell’s actions angered and confused his teammates.
“He’s a professional,” cornerback Charvarius Ward said after the game. “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 before the game. So I feel like that was selfish. It definitely hurt the team. Dre went down and we needed a linebacker. … For him to do that, that’s sucker (stuff) in my opinion. He’s probably going to get cut soon.”
Ward, who has played through personal challenges this season, including the death of his 1-year-old daughter on October 28, returned to play the last three games for San Francisco.
Tight end George Kittle called Campbell’s actions “stupid” and “immature.”
“It’s one person making a selfish decision,” Kittle said. “I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that and I hope I’m never around anybody who does that again.”
The 31-year-old Campbell joined the 49ers after being cut by the Green Bay Packers in March. He had been an All-Pro in 2021 with the Packers but struggled in the last two seasons. His poor performance led to him complaining on social media that Green Bay had misused him.
He was excited about joining a new team, but he never regained his All-Pro form. While Campbell had some strong moments with the 49ers this season, he struggled with tackling and coverage.
