In a Friday conference call, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that the franchise is planning to part with linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.
“We’re working through the semantics of exactly how to deal with it, but you guys heard from me last night, you guys heard from our players. His actions from the game, it’s not something you do to your team or your teammates and still expect to be a part of our team.
“We’re working through exactly the semantics of it right now, but we’ll handle the situation appropriately,” Shanahan said of Campbell.
Despite suiting up, Campbell refused to enter the 49ers’ 12-6 loss against the Rams on Thursday night. Instead, Campbell walked off the field in the fourth quarter with his helmet in hand and a towel draped over his head.
Those actions sparked backlash from Campbell’s teammates. 49ers tight end George Kittle ripped into Campbell and San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward said he expects Campbell to be cut soon.
Shanahan clarified that Campbell left the field of his own accord, too.
“I’m not sure exactly what led to him leaving the field, but once I found out he wasn’t playing, I moved on to people who we could count on,” Shanahan said.
Campbell abandoned the 49ers in a precarious spot. San Francisco linebackers Dee Winters and Dre Greenlaw had both exited the Rams game with injuries.
Reporters also wondered why Campbell didn’t go into the contest earlier on in the night when fellow 49ers linebacker Fred Warner came off the field for a snap.
“Because he wasn’t by the teammates at all and was distant from everyone. I didn’t know this until the third quarter when Dre came out and Dee went in. Then, I got on the defensive headset and asked what was going on and then the coaches told me.
“Then, I addressed De’Vondre and found out. It was pretty simple to see how he was and then we moved on with our lives after that,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan was also asked for his assessment on how Campbell had played and how he had fit in with the 49ers prior to his actions against the Rams on Thursday night.
“We were needing a starting caliber linebacker to fill in for Dre until he could get back. We didn’t know how long that would be. I thought he had some ups and downs throughout the year. I thought he started off slow. I thought he got more used to our defense and how we expected people to play and I thought he improved throughout the year,” Shanahan said.
Campbell started 12 of the 49ers’ first 13 games. The 6-foot-4, 232 pound linebacker played 90% of San Francisco’s defensive snaps with 79 tackles, including three for loss, and a pair of passes defended.