Linebacker De'Vondre Campbell has faced heavy criticism this week for quitting on the San Francisco 49ers during Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Rams. Reportedly upset about being replaced as a starter by Dre Greenlaw, Campbell refused to enter the game in the third quarter.
The team needed Campbell after Greenlaw, playing in his first game back from a torn Achilles suffered in February, exited as a precaution due to knee soreness. Cameras later showed Campbell leaving for the locker room.
On Sunday morning, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that the 49ers will likely suspend Campbell. This move would allow the team to recoup part of his signing bonus while preventing the linebacker from joining another team for the remainder of the season.
Ahead of Sunday's games, FOX Sports insider Jay Glazer revealed how general manager John Lynch reacted during the incident, describing an intense confrontation.
"John Lynch actually went down there in the fourth quarter and confronted him on saying you don't want to go in the game," Glazer said on-air. "You're refusing? Yes. It was Lynch who sent him in the locker room.
"By the way, I got players who called me after and said, 'Hey, we've heard you talk about this alter ego John Lynch, this 47 Red character. Man, we saw it. That dude is crazy.' They all saw it firsthand."
The latest from @JayGlazer on Bill Belichick, the relationship between Jalen Hurts & A.J. Brown, and how Pittsburgh got the most out of Russell Wilson this season.
Plus, more on the situation involving 49ers' De'Vondre Campbell, who elected not to go into Thursday's game vs LA. pic.twitter.com/VtXDfgFv5T
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 15, 2024
On Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear that Campbell would not remain with the team, noting the organization was working through its options for handling the situation.
"His actions from the game is not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still expect to be a part of our team," Shanahan said. "So, we're working through exactly the semantics of it right now, but we'll handle the situation appropriately."
Glazer noted that the 49ers are working with the NFL to impose a three-game suspension on Campbell, which would likely be the "semantics" of the situation.
Several of Campbell's teammates were outspoken in their disapproval.
"So, I feel like that was some sucker s--t that he did," cornerback Charvarius Ward (Mooney) said after the game. "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 some selfish stuff to me, in my opinion. Probably gonna be cut soon, so it is what it is with that."
Tight end George Kittle echoed those sentiments, saying, "It's more one person making a, like Mooney said, a selfish decision, and I'm with Mooney on that. I've never been around anybody that's ever done that, and I hope I'm never around anybody that does that again."
