De’Vondre Campbell, a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, was mocked by his teammates for seemingly refusing to play during Thursday night’s season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
According to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, Campbell refused to play when Dre Greenlaw, who had been injured, had to leave the game in the third quarter, bumping the veteran out of the starting lineup.
After the game, Shanahan told reporters that he didn’t want to participate today.
Whether Campbell would be disciplined or removed from the squad was not immediately apparent.
I’m not sure yet, but we’ll work something out. “Shanahan said.”
The coach emphasized that the event from Thursday night would not be a continuous source of distraction.
“When someone says that, you move on,” he continued, “but people notice.” You no longer have to deal with that.
The tight end Two of the team’s most admired players, George Kittle and cornerback Charvarius Ward, expressed their annoyance at Campbell’s passivity.
“It’s hard to win football games when someone doesn’t want to play football,” Kittle stated. “I believe that to be ignorant. And it’s just stupid, in my opinion. It’s just incredibly immature and foolish. I simply don’t see how you could harm your team in that way.
If Campbell didn’t want to play on Thursday, Ward said he should never have put on a uniform.
“That’s some sucka s—, it definitely hurt the team,” Ward remarked after his third game since his daughter, age one, passed away. “He’s probably going to get cut soon.”
The 49ers, the reigning NFC champions, were all but eliminated from playoff contention after the Los Angeles Rams upset San Francisco 12–6.
With three games remaining, the 6-8 Niners are 2 1/2 games behind first-place Seattle (8-5) in the standings. San Francisco had fewer than 1% chance of making the playoffs after the loss to the Rams.
On Friday, a National Football League Players Association spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
As a stand-in for Greenlaw, who tore his left Achilles tendon during the Super Bowl, the 49ers signed Campbell to a one-year contract in March.
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