Veteran linebacker De’Vondre Campbell walked off the 49ers’ sideline in the second half Thursday night after apparently deciding that being a backup was beneath him.
As a result, the 49ers will soon serve Campbell with his walking papers. Shanahan said Campbell will no longer be a member of the team.
“We’re working through the semantics of exactly how to deal with it,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said on a conference call Friday with Bay Area reporters.
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“But you guys heard from me last night. You guys heard from our players. His actions from the game is not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still be a part of our team.”
When asked about Campbell following the 49ers’ 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Shanahan said Campbell “didn’t want to play today.”
While some teammates chose not to answer questions about Campbell’s actions after the game, teammates George Kittle and Charvarius Ward blasted Campbell for deciding he was not going to play.
Campbell started 12 of the 49ers’ first 13 games of the season. But he took a backup role Thursday night with Dre Greenlaw returning to action for his season debut after recovering from surgery to repair a torn Achilles.
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When linebacker Fred Warner left the game for one play in the second quarter, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles entered the game in place of Campbell. That was because Campbell had already disassociated himself from the team, Shanahan said.
“He wasn’t by his teammates at all and was distanced from everyone,” Shanahan said.
After Greenlaw left the game as a precaution in the third quarter and Campbell was still not on the field, Shanahan said he asked the defensive coaches what was happening.
At that point, he was told Campbell refused to play. Shanahan said Campbell confirmed his decision to him.
Campbell ended up leaving the sideline in the third quarter and retired to the locker room. He may have left Levi's Stadium before the end of the game.
“We moved on with our lives after that,” Shanahan said.
Campbell, 31, is a nine-year veteran who has started 122 regular-season games in his career. He was a first-team All-Pro with the Green Bay Packers in 2021.
The 49ers signed Campbell to a one-year, $5 million contract after linebacker Eric Kendricks broke a verbal agreement to sign with the club as a free agent. Kendricks ended up with the Dallas Cowboys, and the 49ers signed Campbell.
Campbell was one of the major weaknesses in the 49ers’ defense through much of the season as he filled in for Greenlaw. His deficiencies were apparent on third downs.
“We needed a starting caliber linebacker to fill in for Dre until he could get back,” Shanahan said. “We didn’t know how long that would be.
“I thought he (Campbell) had some ups and downs throughout the year. I thought he started off slow. I thought he got more used to our defense and how we expected people to play, and I thought he improved throughout the year.”