With a lot being made about the reported confrontation between John Lynch and suspended 49ers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell during last Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco's general manager clarified what occurred during the interaction.
Lynch downplayed the encounter, but he revealed what led to him leaving his suite mid-game to handle the situation on the 49ers' sideline.
"I think a lot was made of it in terms of it being a confrontation. I'm not sure it was a confrontation. It was a quick conversation," Lynch said Friday on KNBR's "Murph & Markus." "I think we had a little signal going in that his energy wasn't right. [Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] had a conversation with him and we thought everything was going to be all right. It wasn't. And you could see that right away during the game. At some point, it became clear to me that he was refusing to go in the game. We had a couple linebackers down. And as you're watching it, they come out the half and whatnot, it was becoming a distraction in what was essentially a playoff game for us.
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"At that point, Kyle's coaching the team. I usually don't go down until late in a game but I could see that it was really becoming a distraction as one by one, players [and] coaches were trying to get him to go. I finally just said I need to see what's going on, [and] if what's going on is what I think's going on, he needs to get off the field.
"So that's simply what it was. That's how it ended up. It's unfortunate. It's nothing that anyone wanted, but you can't stand for that. Just as we're talking about finishing [the season] and having each other's backs, when you have something contrary to that, that's not who we are, that's not who we'll ever be."
The 49ers suspended Campbell for the remainder of the 2024 season after the veteran linebacker refused to play in San Francisco's "Thursday Night Football" loss to Los Angeles at Levi's Stadium. The suspension, versus a release, will prevent Campbell from signing with another team.
Campbell's decision not to play came as star linebacker Dre Greenlaw made his 2024 season debut after returning from a torn Achilles, but the exact reason for Campbell's actions has yet to be explained.
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Lynch believes that explanation never will come.
"I don't know. I don't know. I don't think I'll ever find out," Lynch said. "We'll leave it at that. He's no longer here and we'll move forward."
Lacking linebacker depth after the 2023 season, the 49ers signed Campbell to a one-year deal to line up next to All-Pro Fred Warner while Greenlaw recovered. The deal came just a few days after veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks had a reported agreement with the 49ers before backing out and agreeing to a new deal with te Dallas Cowboys.
Shanahan admitted to the media earlier this week that signing Campbell was a mistake, and while Lynch doesn't disagree, he knows there's a lesson to be learned about being choosy with the players they go after in free agency.
"Yeah and that's the danger [of it], free agency can be really good to a team, but it's not as thorough," Lynch explained. "In one way, you get to watch a player's track history throughout the NFL. In the draft process, we go much deeper into their character, and we have this library. I think there were some things said when he left Green Bay. We had comfort because some people. had been with him in Atlanta and whatnot, and it didn't work out. That happens sometimes in free agency.
"But it's always a good lesson that you got to be really careful, especially when you have a team that's really forged a strong culture together, you stick out like a sore thumb when you're not one of us. It's a great lesson."