George Kittle calls out teammate De'Vondre Campbell after leaving Thursday Night Football game

The San Francisco 49ers have been a model for NFL franchises to follow since George Kittle came into the NFL, but Thursday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, which dropped their record to 6-8 on the season, featured some uncharacteristic drama.

For example, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refused to play in the second half and left the stadium, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed following the game. He evidently left the NFC West showdown in the third quarter.

It was a bizarre scenario, as Campbell dressed for the game and played in the first half of the 12-9 loss to the Rams. As the 49ers came back out for the third quarter, he refused to go back in:

“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said in his postgame press conference. “He did when I asked him, ‘Why don’t you want to go in?’ … In the third quarter.”

A player refusing to go back into a game would lend many to believe the 49ers are a fractured team at the moment. However, Kittle pushed back on that notion, letting the football world know San Francisco is just fine, and hitting the media with a seething quote while speaking on Campbell and the situation as a whole.

“Not disbelief or disconnection as a team, that’s one person who just decided not to play for his teammates,” Kittle said, regarding Campbell and the state of the 49ers’ locker room. “I don’t think that — that doesn’t make the offense go, ‘Wow man, we’re falling apart,’ or like the defense,’ Hey, we’re falling apart.’ It’s more of a — one person making a selfish decision.

“I’ve never been around anybody that’s even done that, and I hope I’m never around anyone that does that again.”

Alas it remains to be seen what De’Vondre Campbell’s future will be with the 49ers, as Kyle Shanahan didn’t have specifics at the time of his press conference. He said the team would assess things later, but it’s evident George Kittle and many of his teammates have poignant thoughts on the matter.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.