Kyle Shanahan Draws Clear Line on De'Vondre Campbell's Status With 49ers After Walkout

Campbell decided not to play in the 49ers game against the Rams on Thursday.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan does not expect linebacker De'Vondre Campbell to remain part of the team after deciding not to play during the 49ers' loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Ahead of Thursday's game, Campbell was taken out of the starting lineup amid the return of Dre Greenlaw from injury. When Greenlaw and Dee Winters came out of the game in the third quarter, Campbell chose not to go into the game.

On Friday, Shanahan made clear where the team stood when it came to Campbell’s decision.

"His actions from the game are not something you can do to your team or teammates and still be a part of our team," Shanahan said, via KNBR. "We're working through the semantics of (the process) but we'll handle the situation accordingly."

Kyle Shanahan alludes to the 49ers imminent cutting of Devondre Campbell:

"His actions from the game are not something you can do to your team or teammates and still be a part of our team. We're working through the semantics of (the process) but we'll handle the situation… pic.twitter.com/3ETjkdSKqu

— KNBR (@KNBR) December 13, 2024

Shanahan does not expect to Campbell to play again for the team this season, and the 49ers are considering their options on how to handle the situation, including suspending or releasing Campbell.

Campbell's decision to not the finish the game was met with disappointment from Shanahan and several of his teammates.

"When someone says that, you move on. You don't deal with that anymore," Shanahan told the media after the game Thursday. "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, who spent much of the season filling in for Greenlaw as he recovered from a torn achilles, walked into the locker room after the third quarter came to an end. Despite suiting up in uniform, he did not tell teammates or coaches that he did not want to play in the game until he was given the opportunity to take the field in the third quarter.

"I'm not very happy about it," tight end George Kittle said. "I wish I had heard about it on the field, but I didn’t. Is that the reason we lost? Absolutely not. But it’s hard to win football games when someone doesn’t want to play football. Especially when you’re suited up. ... I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that, and I hope I’m never around anybody that does that again."

"He’s a professional. He’s been playing for a long time. If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed," cornerback Charvarius Ward said. "It definitely hurt the team. ... For him to do that, that’s some selfish stuff to me, in my opinion. He’s probably going to get cut soon, so it is what it is with that."

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