SANTA CLARA, Calif. — “We’re going to find out who wants to be a Niner,” Nick Bosa said about what’s at stake over the San Francisco 49ers’ final three games.
Among those in the “I do” category were Bosa, Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner and Talanoa Hufanga, all of whom fought through or back from injuries to lead a strong defensive effort in Thursday’s 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
The “I don’t” on the roster? That would be linebacker De’Vondre Campbell Sr., who stunned coach Kyle Shanahan and his teammates by refusing to go into the game in the third quarter. The 49ers didn’t mince words when asked about what happened.
“He’s a professional, he’s been playing for a long time,” said cornerback Charvarius Ward. “If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed out. He could’ve told ’em that before the game. So I feel like that was some sucker s— that he did.”
Said tight end George Kittle, typically the most upbeat and irrepressible 49er, even after losses: “I’ve never been around somebody that’s ever done that. And I hope I’m never around somebody who does that again.”
Said a downcast Warner: “I don’t even want to comment on it much. I’ll just probably keep it in-house. That’s all I’ll say about it.”
GO DEEPER
49ers’ De’Vondre Campbell refuses to play, quits TNF game in third quarter
No one knew why Campbell quit in the middle of the game — Shanahan said he gave no explanation — but it may have been due to where he found himself in the linebacker pecking order on Thursday.
The 49ers signed Campbell, 31, as a free agent in the offseason because they knew they’d be without their regular weakside linebacker, Greenlaw, for most of the season after Greenlaw tore his Achilles in the Super Bowl.
When Greenlaw returned to action Thursday against the Rams, he got his starting job back as expected. But Campbell also found himself behind second-year player Dee Winters, who served as the No. 3 linebacker to begin the game.
By the time the third quarter came around, however, Winters was out of the game with a neck injury while Greenlaw was dealing with what he described as knee soreness and also was on the sideline. That would have sent Campbell into the game in an every-down role. When he left the field, the 49ers were down to their only remaining linebacker, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who’d been dealing with his own knee injury.
“(He) definitely hurt the team, ’cause Dee went down and we needed a linebacker,” Ward said. “And I think (Flannigan-Fowles) was banged up too, so for him to do that, that’s some sucker stuff to me, in my opinion. He’s probably going to get cut soon.”
Asked if the 49ers planned to release Campbell, a clearly upset Shanahan said, “We’ll figure something out. I don’t know that right now.”
The third quarter also was when the 49ers’ defense, strong to start the game, started to fatigue. The Rams, who punted on their first five possessions, kicked field goals on their final three and tailback Kyren Williams gained 67 of his 108 yards after halftime.
Campbell’s actions stood in sharp contrast to Greenlaw, who looked like the best player on either team at the start of the contest.
He was in on the 49ers’ first tackle of the game and had seven more in the first half. The only 49er who finished with more tackles was Warner, who tied a career high with 15 stops.
“He’s probably my favorite teammate to ever play with, college and pros,” Bosa said of Greenlaw. “He’s an absolute dog and he was killing it. To come, after a year of not playing, and then look like that — it was pretty impressive.”
It’s good to have you back, Dre 🙌@LEVIS x #FTTB pic.twitter.com/HCp7GEmPAa
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 13, 2024
The effort underscored what the 49ers had been missing over the first 13 games. First there was Greenlaw’s speed and tackling, something clearly lacking when Campbell was on the field, especially early in the season when he was still adjusting to the defense.
More than that was the emotion the feisty and often furious Greenlaw brings to the field. The 49ers made sure to tap into that Thursday when they saved him for last during pre-game player announcements. The crowd — and the 49ers players — responded as expected.
“Dre Greenlaw is one of my favorite football players to watch,” Kittle said. “The energy he plays with, the violence that he plays with on every single snap. And the energy he brings to the defense, the entire team is infectious. He’s one of a kind. He’s an absolute unicorn of a football player and it was so fun to see him have an opportunity to play tonight.”
Greenlaw played all but a handful of snaps in the first half, but sat out most of the second half. He was hobbling around after the game, which he attributed to soreness. He said his knee “felt a little weird” at one point so he decided to be safe and head to the sideline. He said he wasn’t concerned with his surgically repaired Achilles, which he said held up well.
“Everything I feel was expected,” he said.
Last year the 49ers had just one loss in the division, which came in the meaningless finale to the Rams. Thursday’s defeat was their fourth. It means they could fall three games behind the division-leading Seattle Seahawks should Seattle win at home against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. And though they are still mathematically in the playoff hunt, there was an acceptance that the postseason is unrealistic and that the 2024 season, which began with such high expectations, would end with the regular-season finale on Jan. 5.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to play for, the 49ers insisted. They can set the tone for the 2025 season over the final three games and they can find out who deserves to be part of the team, something Campbell’s abrupt exit highlighted.
“We’re gonna find out who wants to be here the next few weeks,” Bosa said.
(Photo of Dre Greenlaw: Michael Owens / Getty Images)
