The San Francisco 49ers are on the absolute brink of elimination right now after losing 12-6 at home on Thursday night to the arch-rival Los Angeles Rams.
During the second half of the loss, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell walked off the field and into the locker room after deciding he no longer wanted to play.
Now sitting at a record of 6-8, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked postgame by the San Francisco media if he had lost the locker room.
“I haven’t lost anybody. If somebody doesn’t want to play football it’s pretty simple. Think our team and myself, we know how we feel about that,” Shanahan said.
“I haven’t lost anybody. If somebody doesn’t want to play football it’s pretty simple. Think our team and myself, we know how we feel about that.”
— Kyle Shanahan on not losing the 49ers locker room pic.twitter.com/zf1ULSb8WD
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 13, 2024
The Campbell situation seems like a bit of an anomaly, considering it does not happen very often.
Unless you are former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, who left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, players don’t usually leave the field if they aren’t injured.
In the end, the Niners are at 6-8, with their backs against the wall.
They cannot afford to lose any of their three remaining games, and that might not be good enough to advance to the playoffs.
However, it is very hard to blame Shanahan for this, considering the offense was without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey and All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams.
Some coaches and teams are simply dealt a tough hand through injuries and other odd occurrences.
The notion that Shanahan has lost the locker room seems a bit far-fetched.
