The San Francisco 49ers’ playoff hopes took a massive hit 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 to feature zero touchdowns.
This was probably not a game many fans wanted to watch, and it was one at least one player apparently did not want to play in. Following the final whistle, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that linebacker De’Vondre Campbell informed coaches he “didn’t want to play today,” and left for the locker room in the third quarter when asked to replace Dre Greenlaw on the field.
Following this shocking development, Shanahan was asked if he had lost the locker room after his team dropped to 6-8.
“I haven’t lost anybody,” Shanahan responded, via Niners Nation. “That’s somebody who doesn’t want to play football, that’s pretty simple. I mean, I think our team and myself, we know how we feel about that. So I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.”
49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward was also asked about the Campbell situation in the locker room, and he offered an honest response. Ward said if Campbell didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed out, and that it “definitely hurt the team.”
The 31-year-old Campbell signed a one-year deal with the 49ers this past offseason after a three-year stint with the Green Bay Packers. He’s appeared in 13 games with 12 starts, and recorded 79 combined tackles and two passes defensed to go along with one QB hit. Campbell was named a First Team All-Pro with the Packers in 2021 after recording a career-high 146 combined tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and five passes defensed.
While Shanahan did not immediately commit to releasing Campbell, that’s likely what will happen this week. It appears the linebacker quit on his team in the middle of a pivotal matchup.
