The San Francisco 49ers’ playoff hopes suffered a blow with their Week 15, 12-6 loss to the rival Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night. It was a matchup heavily affected by rain and the first game of the 2024 season that did not feature touchdowns.
This probably wasn’t a game many fans wanted to see, and it was apparently one that at least one player didn’t want to play. After the final whistle, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that linebacker De’Vondre Campbell informed the coaches that “I don’t want to play today,” and went to the locker room in the third quarter when asked to replace Dre Greenlaw on the field.
After this shocking development, Shanahan was asked if he had lost the locker room after his team fell to 6-8.
“I haven’t lost anyone,” Shanahan responded, via Niners Nation. “He’s someone who doesn’t want to play football, that’s pretty simple. I mean, I think me and our team know how we feel about it. So I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.”
49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward was also asked about Campbell’s situation in the locker room, and he offered an honest answer. Ward said that if Campbell didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have suited up and that he “definitely hurt the team.”
Campbell, 31, signed a one-year deal with the 49ers this past offseason after a three-year stint with the Green Bay Packers. He has appeared in 13 games with 12 starts and recorded 79 combined tackles and two passes defended along with one QB hit. Campbell was named First Team All-Pro with the Packers in 2021 after recording 146 combined tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a career-high five passes defensed.
While Shanahan did not immediately commit to releasing Campbell, that is likely to happen this week. It appears the linebacker quit his team in the middle of a pivotal matchup.
