Report: Lynch confronted, sent Campbell to 49ers' locker room

Report: Lynch confronted, sent Campbell to 49ers’ locker room originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

John Lynch reportedly did not have time for linebacker De’Vondre Campbell’s sideline antics on Thursday night.

San Francisco’s president of football operations/general manager confronted Campbell on the 49ers’ sideline when he refused to play in the third quarter of the 49ers’ 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, league insider Jay Glazer reported on “FOX NFL Sunday,” and it was Lynch who sent the dejected defender to the locker room.

“John Lynch actually went down there in the [third] quarter and confronted him on it, saying, ‘You don’t want to go in the game? You’re refusing?’ ” Glazer said. “Yes. It was Lynch who sent him in the locker room.

“By the way, I got players who called me after and said, ‘Hey, we’ve heard you talk about this alter-ego John Lynch, this 47 Red character. Man, we saw it. That dude is crazy.’ They all saw it firsthand.”

Campbell appeared in all 13 games for the 49ers this season before Dre Greenlaw returned from an Achilles injury Thursday to face the Rams. When Greenlaw exited the game in the third quarter with some soreness, Campbell refused to play when 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan asked him to go in.

Shanahan on Friday told reporters San Francisco is “working through the semantics” of parting ways with Campbell after the incident, and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that the 49ers are expected to suspend the veteran linebacker rather than release him.

Lynch and Shanahan have helped the 49ers build a culture that is admired by many throughout the NFL, with toughness and a determination to win as the cornerstones. And when the GM saw a player go against those standards, he took it into his own hands.

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast