The 49ers plan to part ways with De’Vondre Campbell after he refused to play against the Rams

A day after refusing to address San Francisco’s 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the 49ers gave strong indications that they plan to part ways with linebacker De’Vondre Campbell Sr.

Asked on a conference call Friday whether he expected Campbell to be with the team in Week 16 and beyond, coach Kyle Shanahan said, “No, I don’t.” At the outset of his availability, Shanahan said the team “works through the semantics of exactly how we will deal with this” and that “we will deal with the situation appropriately”.

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De’Vondre Campbell of the 49ers refuses to play and abandons the TNF game in the third quarter

Campbell told the team he didn’t want to play and left the field in the third quarter of Thursday night’s game, coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. Shanahan added that Campbell did not provide a reason for his refusal to play in the game on Thursday, nor did he contact the coach to explain his decision. The athlete Reached out to Campbell’s agent on Friday but received no response.

The 49ers wanted Campbell to replace Dre Greenlaw, who left the game with knee and Achilles tendon soreness. Greenlaw played in the Super Bowl for the first time since tearing his Achilles tendon and was expected to play limited snaps. Greenlaw replaced Campbell in the starting lineup after the veteran started 12 of the first 13 games.

After the game, several of Campbell’s teammates expressed their displeasure with the linebacker’s decision.

“He is a professional, he has been playing for a long time. If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have taken his clothes off,” cornerback Charvarius Ward said. “He could have told them that before the game. So I feel like that was some stupid thing he did. Definitely hurt the team because Dee (Winters) was out and we needed a linebacker. And I think (Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles) was broken too, so for him to do that, in my opinion, that’s bullshit. He will probably be circumcised soon.”

Tight end George Kittle didn’t know what happened to Campbell until after the game and was upset about the move.

“Look, if you’re in the squad and you’re getting fit, you’re expected to play,” Kittle said. “I think anyone in this building who is asked to go in would, in my opinion, 100 percent die to get on that football field. And so people experience random things off the field. I can’t say anything about that. Whatever his decision was, it was not for this organization, not for this team. And that’s up to him. I’m not very happy about it.

“I wish I had heard about it on the pitch but I didn’t. Now is that why we lost? Absolutely not. But it’s hard to win football games when someone doesn’t want to play football, especially when you’re fit.”

Campbell signed with the 49ers in the offseason after spending the previous three seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He totaled 79 tackles in 13 games this season. The 31-year-old has played for four teams in his nine-year career (49ers, Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons) and was a first-team All-Pro with Green Bay in 2021.

How does this impact the 49ers depth chart at LB?

Campbell’s departure will move junior linebacker Dee Winters up in the pecking order once he recovers from the neck injury that knocked him out of the game on Thursday. This change had already begun in Sunday’s win against the Chicago Bears and may have been the reason for Campbell’s upset. Campbell started the Bears’ game, but Winters took his place at one point in the second half. This also happened in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams, which frustrated Campbell at the time, but Winters was injured in that contest and Campbell retained his starting spot.

This season, the 49ers’ top two linebackers will be Fred Warner and Greenlaw, who may not be quite ready for a full number of snaps after returning from a torn Achilles tendon, and Winters will fill in for him if needed. The 49ers may also promote a linebacker from the practice squad, Jalen Graham or DaShaun White, to take Campbell’s spot on the 53-man roster.

The larger outcome of the Campbell incident may be a discontinuance. His exit Thursday sparked strong reactions from his soon-to-be ex-teammates, many of whom were injured or, like Ward, had suffered personal tragedy. Kittle noted how many young players and up-and-coming players “would fly to death to be on that football field.” With only three games left and a playoff spot unlikely, the 49ers said they would use the rest of the season to figure out who really wanted to be on the team. That said, while there was some resignation following Thursday’s loss to the Rams, Campbell’s departure also appeared to spark heated arguments. – Matt Barrows, 49ers beat writer

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(Photo: Neville E. Guard/Imagn Images)