This season has been filled with frustration for the 49ers, but Thursday’s game introduced an unexpected twist involving veteran linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.
During the third quarter, Campbell was asked to substitute for Greenlaw, who was making his season debut after recovering from injury. However, Campbell declined to enter the game and returned to the locker room instead.
After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan commented on the situation, explaining what transpired.
“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said. “We’ll figure out something.”
Shanahan continued: “When someone says that, you move on. You don’t deal with that anymore. That’s somebody who doesn’t want to play football, that’s pretty simple. I think our team and myself, we know how we feel about that. I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.”
Cornerback Charvarius Ward expressed a similar sentiment when asked about Campbell’s actions.
“For him to do that, that’s some selfish stuff to me in my opinion,” Ward said. “He’s probably going to get cut soon.”
Tight end George Kittle also weighed in, calling Campbell’s decision “selfish” during his postgame remarks.
“I just don’t see how you could do something like that to your team,” Kittle said.
De’Vondre Campbell’s 2024 Season Stats
Before Thursday’s game, Campbell had participated in all 13 games of the 2024 season, starting 12 of them. He had played 90% of the defensive snaps, tallying 79 tackles and three tackles for loss.
Over his nine-year NFL career with the Falcons, Packers, and 49ers, Campbell has appeared in 128 games, recording at least 90 tackles in six seasons.
