Shanahan details how players reacted to 49ers moving on from Campbell originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
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SANTA CLARA — Upon the 49ers’ announcement that linebacker De’Vondre Campbell was suspended for the final three games of the season, his locker was cleaned out and his nameplate was removed.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said on Wednesday that it was not difficult for the team to move on from Campbell, who declined to play Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
Shanahan said he liked how the team reacted to the situation.
“They’ve acted awesome. It’s how you’d expect a team,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers’ depth at linebacker was tested against the Rams. And with Dre Greenlaw out for the second half due to discomfort in his knee and second-year player Dee Winters experiencing a neck injury, the 49ers turned to Campbell.
But Campbell, who started 12 of the 49ers’ first 13 games of the season, defied the coaching staff and refused to enter the game.
Afterward, tight end George Kittle and cornerback Charvarius Ward blasted Campbell for deciding not to play. On Monday, defensive end Nick Bosa and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir were among the players who criticized Campbell, a nine-year NFL veteran.
“We didn’t see each other over the weekend so I didn’t talk a ton about it after the game,” Shanahan said. “But I could hear from their comments how some of them felt.
“We addressed it for about 30 seconds in the meeting on Monday, and it’s pretty easy to move on.”
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