SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With accidents to their linebackers accumulating in the course of the third quarter Thursday night time towards the Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco 49ers turned to veteran De’Vondre Campbell to enter the sport.
Campbell declined the invitation.
Then, within the fourth quarter, Campbell walked to the locker room with a towel over his head with out enjoying a snap. After the Niners’ 12-6 defeat at Levi’s Stadium, head coach Kyle Shanahan defined that Campbell elected to not enter the sport although linebackers Dre Greenlaw (knee) and Dee Winters (neck) have been coping with accidents.
“He mentioned he did not need to play at the moment,” Shanahan mentioned.
Campbell’s resolution and subsequent stroll to the locker room left Shanahan, teammates and coaches fuming after the loss. Shanahan mentioned the plan was for Campbell to enter the sport after Greenlaw had departed as a result of he was coping with some knee soreness. It was additionally Greenlaw’s first sport again from an Achilles damage he sustained in Super Bowl LVIII.
After Campbell mentioned no, the Niners inserted Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, the workforce’s solely wholesome linebacker left on the roster, into the sport. When the third quarter ended, Campbell walked to the locker room.
“People observed, however when somebody says that, you progress on,” Shanahan mentioned. “That’s any person who does not need to play soccer. That’s fairly easy. I feel our workforce and myself, we all know how we really feel about that, so we need not speak about him anymore.”
When requested whether or not Campbell can be launched, Shanahan mentioned merely, “We’ll determine one thing.”
In the aftermath of a dispiriting defeat that nearly definitely ends San Francisco’s probabilities at a playoff berth, a couple of of Campbell’s teammates declined to talk on the state of affairs as a result of phrase was simply making its approach across the locker room about what had occurred. Linebacker Fred Warner and defensive finish Nick Bosa mentioned they did not know sufficient particulars to supply a lot of an opinion.
“It’s one individual making a egocentric resolution. I’ve by no means been round anyone that is ever completed that, and I hope I’m by no means round anyone who does that once more.”
Niners TE George Kittle
Others, resembling tight finish George Kittle and cornerback Charvarius Ward, had loads to say. Kittle spoke to reporters for about 11 minutes, and with every passing minute he appeared to develop extra irritated with what had occurred.
Kittle lamented that he wasn’t on the sideline when all of it went down in order that he might have intervened.
“I’m a frontrunner on the workforce, and if that’s one thing that’s being a distraction on the sideline, I’d’ve beloved to voice my very own opinion within the second,” Kittle mentioned. “And we’re previous that second. So, it does not matter what I want I might have mentioned or want I might have completed, however I do not like distractions on the sideline. I feel that is ignorant. And I feel it is simply dumb. It’s simply silly, and it’s totally immature. I simply do not see how you can do one thing like that to your workforce.”
Kittle added: “It’s one individual making a egocentric resolution. I’ve by no means been round anyone that is ever completed that, and I hope I’m by no means round anyone who does that once more.”
The Niners signed Campbell as an unrestricted free agent from the Green Bay Packers in March with the concept he can be the placeholder at weak aspect linebacker till Greenlaw returned. That signing got here after veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks agreed to a cope with the Niners then backed out on the final minute to signal with the Dallas Cowboys as an alternative.
Campbell began 12 of the workforce’s first 13 video games, with the lone exception being as a result of the Niners began 5 down lineman and just one linebacker (Warner) earlier than he entered. Coincidentally, that nonstart additionally got here towards the Rams. In the workforce’s first 13 video games, Campbell performed 90% of San Francisco’s defensive snaps with 79 tackles, together with three for loss, and a pair of passes defended.
But with Greenlaw again, the Niners began within the nickel package deal with Greenlaw and Warner as the 2 linebackers, and Winters coming into because the third choice in base protection.
It wasn’t till accidents to the opposite linebackers that Campbell revealed he did not need to play, a choice that angered Ward, who performed solely weeks after the demise of his 1-year-old daughter.
“He’s knowledgeable,” Ward mentioned. “He’s been enjoying for a very long time. If he did not need to play, he should not have dressed out. He might have instructed them that earlier than the sport. I really feel like that was some egocentric s— that he did. It positively harm the workforce. Dee went down and we would have liked a linebacker. … So, for him to do this, that is some egocentric stuff to me, for my part. He’s most likely going to get reduce quickly, so it’s what it’s with that.”
