Lynch reveals players and coaches are pleading for Campbell to play for 49ers-Rams originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With a lot to say about him reported confrontation between John Lynch and Suspended 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell During last Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco general manager clarified what happened during the interaction.
Lynch downplayed the meeting, but revealed what led him to leave his suite mid-game to handle the situation on the 49ers bench.
“I think there was a lot of talk about it in terms of it being confrontational. I’m not sure it was confrontational. It was a quick conversation,” Lynch said Friday on “Murph & Markus” by KNBR. “I think we had a little sign that his energy wasn’t right. (Coach) Kyle (Shanahan) had a conversation with him and we thought everything was going to be fine. It wasn’t. And you could see that right away during the game. game, at some point, it became clear to me that he was refusing to come into the game. We had a couple of linebackers down and as you looked at him, they came out in the middle and that was all becoming a distraction on what was essentially a. playoff game for us.
“At the time, Kyle was coaching the team. I usually don’t get off until the end of a game, but I could see it was really becoming a distraction, as one by one, the players (and) coaches They were trying to get him to leave. Finally I said I need to see what’s happening, (and) if what’s happening is what I think is happening, he needs to get off the field.
“So that’s just what it was. That’s how it ended. It’s unfortunate. It’s nothing anyone would want, but you can’t tolerate that. Just as we’re talking about finishing (the season) and supporting each other, when you have something contrary to that, “That’s not who we are, that’s not what we will ever be.”
He 49ers suspend Campbell for the remainder of the 2024 season after the veteran linebacker refused to play in San Francisco’s “Thursday Night Football” loss to Los Angeles at Levi’s Stadium. The suspension, rather than a release, will prevent Campbell from signing with another team.
Campbell’s decision not to play came as star linebacker Dre Greenlaw made his debut in the 2024 season after returning from a torn Achilles tendon, but the exact reason for Campbell’s actions has yet to be explained.
Lynch believes that explanation will never come.
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll ever find out,” Lynch said. “We’ll leave it at that. He’s not here anymore and we’ll move on.”
Lacking linebacker depth after the 2023 season, the 49ers signed Campbell to a one-year deal to line up alongside All-Pro Fred Warner while Greenlaw recovered. The deal came just days after veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks agreed to a deal with the 49ers before retiring and accepting a new deal with the Dallas Cowboys.
Shanahan admitted to the media earlier this week that signing Campbell was a mistake, and while Lynch doesn’t disagree, he knows there’s a lesson to be learned about being picky about the players you pursue in free agency.
“Yeah, and that’s the danger, free agency can be really good for a team, but it’s not that comprehensive,” Lynch explained. “In some ways, you can look at a player’s history throughout the NFL. In the draft process, we delved a lot deeper into his character and we have this library. I think some things were said when he left Green Bay. I had comfort because some people had been with him in Atlanta and all that, and that didn’t work out sometimes in free agency.
“But it’s always a good lesson to be very careful, especially when you have a team that has really built a strong culture, you stick out like a sore thumb when you’re not one of us. It’s a great lesson.”
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