49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said LB De’Vondre Campbell ‘didn’t want to play,’ and left

The San Francisco 49ers were barely hanging on in the playoff race, and desperately needed a win Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams to stay afloat.

And in the second half of a tight game, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell decided he was done playing.

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan told media after the game, which the Rams won 12-6, that Campbell, a nine-year veteran for the 49ers who had started 12 of 13 games this season before Thursday night, told the team he didn’t want to play. Campbell went to the locker room in the second half.

“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan was asked if Campbell told that to the coaching staff.

“He did when I asked him why he didn’t want to go in,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan said he had never had a player tell him he didn’t want to play. Shanahan said Campbell didn’t give him a reason.

“When someone says that, you move on. You don’t deal with that anymore,” Shanahan told the media, via 95.7 The Game. “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.”

Campbell’s playing time had been getting cut each of the past three weeks, but last week he still played 64.1% of the 49ers’ defensive snaps. On Thursday night the 49ers got Dre Greenlaw back from an Achilles injury he suffered during last season’s Super Bowl while running onto the field from the sideline. Greenlaw started and had a fantastic first half. Greenlaw missed snaps in the second half, and that’s presumably when the 49ers asked Campbell, relegated to reserve duty with Greenlaw back, to go in. Shanahan said he refused.

It’s reminiscent of the Vontae Davis story. Davis was a veteran Buffalo Bills cornerback, and at halftime of a 2018 game he said he had decided to retire and left. It also brings back memories of Antonio Brown running to the locker room shirtless during a game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brown never played again in the NFL.

Campbell came into the game with 79 tackles and for most of the season he had been a full-time player for the 49ers. After Thursday night, it’s likely he won’t be on the 49ers the rest of the season. Niners cornerback Charvarius Ward said he didn’t think Campbell handled the situation well, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic.

“He’s probably gonna get cut soon,” Ward told the media in the locker room.

Others also weren’t pleased with Campbell afterward.

“It’s just dumb. It’s just stupid. It’s very immature,” tight end George Kittle told the media, via 95.7 The Game. “I just don’t see how you could do something like that to your team.”