When Dre Greenlaw returned from injury, San Francisco linebacker De’Vondre Campbell lost his starting position and refused to play in the third quarter of Thursday night’s game.
After Greenlaw returned for his first game since injuring his left Achilles tendon in last season’s Super Bowl, Campbell, who had started 12 of the 49ers’ first 13 games and played 90% of the defensive snaps, was benched for San Francisco’s 12–6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Despite recording eight tackles in the first half, Greenlaw abandoned the game in the third quarter due to Achilles tendon pain. At that point, Campbell declined to play.
Following the defeat, coach Kyle Shanahan remarked, “He said he didn’t want to play today,” putting the 49ers (6-8) in danger of missing the playoffs.
The club will “figure out something” on how to handle it moving forward, according to Shanahan, who stated he had never witnessed that in his coaching tenure.
Campbell left his teammates confused and upset as he made his way to the locker room.
“He’s a professional,” reported Charvarius Ward, a cornerback. “He has a lot of playing experience. He shouldn’t have dressed up if he wasn’t going to play. Before the game, he might have informed them of that. It seems to me that he done some selfish things. The team was undoubtedly harmed. We needed a linebacker after Dre went down. I think it’s selfish of him to do so, in my perspective. He will most likely be cut shortly.
After being dismissed by Green Bay in March, the 31-year-old Campbell signed a one-year, $5 million contract with San Francisco over the offseason.
He was named an All-Pro by the Packers in 2021, but during the final two seasons in Green Bay, his performance declined. Although he had several strong games in San Francisco this season, he typically had trouble in coverage and with tackling.
“It’s one person making a selfish decision,” George Kittle, a tight end, stated. “I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that and I hope I’m never around anybody who does that again.”
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