Whitner declares 49ers should cut Campbell for refusing to play originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
NBC Sports Bay Area analysts Donte Whitner and Rod Brooks didn’t hold back on 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell after he refused to play in San Francisco’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.
“Cut him,” Whitner, who played 11 NFL seasons, said on “49ers Postgame Live” after San Francisco’s 12-6 loss. “That’s my take. Cut him. He hasn’t played well all season and then you get a near-All-Pro linebacker back that you know is coming back off injury, you know that they’re going to insert him into the starting lineup, you know that you’re going to be his backup and then you tell the coaches, I’m not going in the game. I don’t want to play today. I would have cut you right there on game day.
“We don’t feel sorry for you. You’re professional, you haven’t done your job and you saw the distinct difference with Dre Greenlaw in the game as to why they played him over Campbell. So, cut him. That’s for Kyle Shanahan, that’s for the 49ers organization. You cut this guy. There’s no way he remains on the team tomorrow.”
Campbell, who appeared in all 13 49ers games this season, didn’t play Thursday as Greenlaw made his season debut following a lengthy rehab from a torn Achilles.
But after the game, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan explained what happened.
“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said.
Brooks offered his thoughts on the situation.
“That was a sucker move,” Brooks said. “That’s terrible. He quit on his team. He quit on his team. That’s the worst thing you could do.”
The 49ers signed Campbell, a nine-year NFL veteran, to a one-year, $5 million contract this offseason after he spent the last three years with the Green Bay Packers.
In addition to Shanahan, 49ers tight end George Kittle and cornerback Charvarius Ward weren’t happy with Campbell after the loss.
While it’s unclear if the 49ers will cut Campbell, his San Francisco tenure and the team’s playoff hopes both appear to be hanging by a thread.
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