SANTA CLARA, Calif. — De’Vondre Campbell Sr. was complaining well before he walked out of Thursday’s game, said San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, who heard the veteran linebacker act up in the locker room before kickoff.
“I was gonna say something and didn’t because I didn’t want to create more of a distraction,” Bosa said Monday. “So, yeah, I kinda saw the foreshadowing. I definitely didn’t think it was gonna result in that and didn’t know it happened during the game.”
Campbell, 31, refused to enter the game after injuries struck the 49ers linebacking corps in the third quarter, and he walked off the field. Instead of cutting Campbell, the 49ers on Monday suspended him for conduct detrimental to the team, which might allow them to recoup some of his signing bonus. Campbell and his agent have not responded to text messages seeking their comment.
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None of the 49ers were sure exactly what upset Campbell. He had started the 10 previous games at weakside linebacker, but there always had been an understanding that Dre Greenlaw would get that job back when he returned from an Achilles injury. One possibility was that Campbell also found himself behind second-year player Dee Winters when Thursday’s game began. When Winters (neck) and Greenlaw (soreness) left the contest, Campbell was next up in the rotation but wouldn’t go into the game.
Asked if he regretted not heading off the issue pre-game, Bosa said, “Not really. If he was gonna do that, then he’s not the type of guy to be here.”
Said cornerback Deommodore Lenoir: “I just lost all respect. I’m a person that’s going 110 percent every play. If I’m hurt and the guy behind me is not backing me up and can’t come in or don’t want to go in, I just feel like he’s a cancer to the team.”
Campbell also seemed to be upset when Winters played ahead of him during a Week 3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Winters, however, got hurt in that game, too, and Campbell retained his role.
Bosa is one of several players who said Campbell’s abrupt exit wasn’t symptomatic of a rotten locker room.
“Not at all,” he said. “This locker room’s great. It’s always been great. But sometimes when you bring somebody who’s older in, who’s from a different place, you don’t know. To me, he was a good dude. It’s not like I didn’t like him. But, no, there’s no issues in this locker room.”
Bosa also shared strong opinions about the 49ers defense and coordinator Nick Sorensen. The unit played poorly on the road in Green Bay and Buffalo over the last month but has stiffened the last two weeks. Heading into Week 16, San Francisco ranks third best in yards allowed, although it’s much lower — 17th — in points allowed at 22.9 points a game.
Bosa said it’s clear that his bookend on the defensive line, Leonard Floyd, is more comfortable than he was early in the season.
“His performance from the first Rams game to this one — unbelievable,” Bosa said. “He’s playing the run incredible.”
And he noted that Maliek Collins and Yetur Gross-Matos are poised to have career highs in sacks.
“Watching that tape the other night really got me excited,” he said. “Obviously, this year — that game — didn’t turn out like we wanted. But I see a lot of guys in our D-line room and I want all of them back next year. I think we have all the players in our room right now to be that dominant line, and I think we looked like it on Thursday night.”
He said he hopes Sorensen is back, too, a sentiment he realizes fans and outside observers might not share.
“I’m not saying that we’ve been playing great defense all year,” Bosa said. “Because our red-zone (defense) has been awful. I’m just saying we had to throw in a lot of young guys early on and that can cause some confusion, some breakdowns. But right at this point we’re hitting our stride.”
“You can’t play the play for the players,” he said, referring to Sorensen. “You can make calls. And I think he’s gotten better. I think DeMeco (Ryans) got better as he went on, too.”
Bosa was one of the players who took part in Monday’s so-called “bonus” practice. He called the rib/oblique injury he’s been dealing with “decent.”
“It was a good rest weekend,” he said. “But it’s definitely still there — gotta keep working through it. Hopefully by this Sunday it will pass.”
While Winters took part in practice, Greenlaw did not, although he was seen walking around the locker room without the pronounced limp he had after Thursday’s game.
(Photo of Nick Bosa and De’Vondre Campbell: Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
