A truly bizarre situation unfolded on Thursday night during the San Francisco 49ers' 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, a defeat that essentially ended the playoff hopes of the defending NFC champions. After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that veteran linebacker De'Vondre Campbell refused to come in the game and instead went to the locker room.

There was plenty of discussion about Campbell's choice in the aftermath of the game, including starting cornerback Charvarius Ward admitting that Campbell would probably get cut. As it turns out, Campbell's time with the 49ers as a player is over, but he may not be getting released according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.

“Make no mistake, De'Vondre Campbell's tenure with the 49ers is very much over,” Rapoport said on NFL GameDay. “Kyle Shannon made that abundantly clear after the game and then a day later. My understanding of how this happens, and it has not happened officially yet, is that the 49ers are likely to suspend Campbell rather than just release him. A couple of reasons for that: it prevents him from just going on waivers, getting claimed and signing with another team and playing out the rest of the season. Also, it would potentially allow them to claw back some of his $3.35 million signing bonus.”

It's understandable why the 49ers wouldn't want to let Campbell go play for another team for the rest of the year on top of the obvious financial incentive of recovering the signing bonus. The 49ers are probably out of the playoffs but the light is still flickering on their season, so they're looking for any advantage they can get.

Campbell is second on the team this season with 79 total tackles and has three tackles for loss this season.

Dre Greenlaw shows very promising signs in return

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There is some good news for the 49ers' linebacker room coming out of Thursday night. Dre Greenlaw looked amazing in his return from a torn Achilles in the Super Bowl in February, and his presence on the field gives the 49ers' defense a different presence and physicality than they have when he isn't out there.

Greenlaw was absolutely flying around in the first half, stuffing the run and making throwing windows murky for Matthew Stafford in the rainy San Francisco weather.

Understandably, Greenlaw eventually had to come out of the game after playing almost every snap in the first half because it was just his first game back after a 10-month layoff. When Campbell was asked to take his place, he refused.

Despite missing most of the second half, Greenlaw still finished second on the team on Thursday night with eight total tackles and looked pretty much like his old self until he gassed out in the second half. It may be too little, too late for this 49ers team this season, but Thursday night was a reminder of what their defense can look like with Greenlaw out there next to Fred Warner, even if both aren't at 100%.