‘It’s just stupid and very immature’: 49ers react to De’Vondre Campbell leaving the team

San Francisco 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell left Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams in the third quarter, heading to the locker room. Initially, many thought it was due to injury, even though he wasn’t playing. However, head coach Kyle Shanahan later revealed a much more surprising reason for Campbell’s departure.

In the third quarter, Campbell was ordered into the game to replace linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who had left the game with knee soreness. Surprisingly, Campbell refused.

“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan told reporters after the game, adding that Campbell did not explain his decision.

Visibly frustrated, Shanahan admitted it was a first for him as a coach, but said he couldn’t afford to dwell on the situation during the game, so he allowed Campbell to leave .

Teammates react

Campbell’s actions left his teammates blindsided, with most only learning of the incident after the game. While many refrained from commenting, cornerback Charvarius Ward (Mooney) didn’t hold back.

“He’s a professional. He’s been playing for a long time,” Ward openly told reporters. “If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed. He could have told (us) before the game.

“So I feel like it was a stupid thing that he did. It definitely hurt the team because (LB) Dee (Winters) went down and we needed a linebacker. And I think (LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles) was banged up too.

“So for him to do that, that’s a selfish thing for me, in my opinion. He’s probably going to be deleted soon, so that’s what’s happening with that.”

When asked if Campbell would be released, Shanahan said, “We’ll figure it out, but I don’t know right now.”

Like Ward, tight end George Kittle weighed in on the development, expressing disappointment with Campbell’s decision.

“Look, if you’re on the roster and you’re in uniform, you’re supposed to play,” Kittle said. “I think anyone in this building, if they were asked to come in, I would say 100% of everyone would die to get on this football field. People experience random things off the field. I can’t talk about it. Whatever his decision was, it wasn’t for this organization, nor for this team. And that’s on him.

“So, I’m not very happy. I would have liked to hear about it on the pitch, but I didn’t. Now, is that the reason we lost? Absolutely not. But it’s difficult to win football games when someone does it. I don’t want to play football, especially when you’re dressed down. It puts you down a little, especially when you lose two linebackers and you could have dressed another.

Not the reflection of the locker room

Shanahan dismissed concerns about Campbell’s actions that the coach could have lost the locker room, describing the incident as an isolated decision by the linebacker.

“I didn’t lose anyone,” Shanahan said. “It’s someone who doesn’t want to play football. It’s pretty simple. I think myself and our team know how we feel about that, so I don’t think we need to talk more of him.”

Kittle echoed Shanahan’s sentiment, pointing out that Campbell’s seemingly selfish actions don’t reflect the team’s culture or mentality.

“This is a person who just decided not to play for his teammates,” Kittle said. “…It’s more of a person making, as Mooney said, a selfish decision, and I’m with Mooney on that. I’ve never been around anyone who has done that, and I hope I never be with anyone who did that again.”

Regarding the distraction, Kittle added: “I think it’s just stupid. It’s just stupid, and it’s very immature. And I just don’t see how you can do something like that to your team. “

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