The San Francisco 49ers plan to droop De’Vondre Campbell Sr. for the ultimate three video games of the 2024 season after the linebacker refused to enter Thursday’s 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, in keeping with a crew supply.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan stated on Friday he didn’t anticipate Campbell returning to the crew, however that he was “working by way of the semantics of precisely how we’ll cope with it.” Campbell, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract within the offseason, is a free agent after this season.
Campbell advised the crew he didn’t need to play and left the sector within the third quarter of Thursday’s sport. San Francisco had wished him to exchange Dre Greenlaw, who was coping with knee and Achilles soreness in his first sport since tearing his Achilles tendon within the Super Bowl. Campbell, who began 12 of the crew’s first 13 video games this season, is second on the 49ers with 79 tackles.
Campbell’s teammates expressed disappointment in him after the loss, which left the 49ers with lower than a 1 p.c likelihood of constructing the playoffs.
“He’s an expert, he’s been enjoying for a very long time. If he didn’t need to play, he shouldn’t have dressed out,” cornerback Charvarius Ward stated. “He may’ve advised ’em that earlier than the sport. So I really feel like that was some sucker s— that he did. Definitely damage the crew, ’trigger Dee (Winters) went down and we wanted a linebacker. And I feel (Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles) was banged up too, so for him to do this, that’s some sucker stuff to me, for my part. He’s in all probability going to get lower quickly.”
How does this affect the 49ers’ depth chart at LB?
Campbell’s departure will bump up younger linebacker Dee Winters within the pecking order as soon as he recovers from the neck damage that knocked him out of Thursday’s sport. That changeover already had begun in a Week 14 win over the Chicago Bears and should have been the reason for Campbell’s irritation. Campbell began the Bears sport, however Winters took over his spot throughout stretches within the second half. That additionally occurred again in Week 3 in opposition to the Los Angeles Rams, drawing frustration from Campbell on the time, however Winters received damage in that contest and Campbell retained his beginning job.
Moving ahead this season, the 49ers’ prime two linebackers might be Fred Warner and Greenlaw, who is probably not fairly prepared for a full complement of snaps, and Winters will fill in for him as wanted. The 49ers can also promote a linebacker from the follow squad, Jalen Graham or DaShaun White, to take Campbell’s spot on the 53-man roster.
The greater results of the Campbell incident could also be one in every of angle. His exit Thursday drew robust reactions from his soon-to-be ex-teammates, lots of whom have performed by way of accidents or, within the case of Ward, following a private tragedy. With solely three video games left and a playoff berth unlikely, the 49ers stated they might use the rest of the season to seek out out who really wished to be on the crew. Which is to say, whereas there was some resignation following Thursday’s loss to the Rams, Campbell’s exit additionally appeared to spark loads of struggle. — Matt Barrows, 49ers beat author
(Photo: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
