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49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refused to play when asked during the team’s 12-6 loss Thursday night to the Rams, as Los Angeles moved past San Francisco to keep its playoff hopes alive. A day later, head coach Kyle Shanahan said he didn’t expect Campbell to play again this season.

After the game, Shanahan had told reporters that nine-year veteran Campbell was asked to come into the game in the third quarter after Dre Greenlaw – who was making his season debut after tearing his Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl last season – other than Campbell was experiencing some soreness felt refused and shortly afterwards went to the changing room.

In a phone call with reporters Friday, Shanahan was asked whether he expected Campbell to remain with the 49ers through Week 16 or beyond. “NO. I don’t,” he replied.

Shanahan also said that the team is “working through the semantics of this.”

Shanahan said in his postgame press conference that Campbell didn’t give a reason why he didn’t want to play.

Shanahan said he wasn’t sure if the team would release Campbell. “When someone says that, you move on. You don’t deal with that anymore,” Shanahan said. “This is someone who doesn’t want to play football, it’s very simple. I think our team and I know what we think about it. So I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.”

On Thursday night, 49ers tight end George Kittle called Campbell’s decision “selfish.”

“Look, if you’re in the squad and you’re getting fit, you’re expected to play,” Kittle told reporters. “I think anyone in this building who is asked to go in, I think 100% of everyone would die to get on that football field. And so people experience random things off the field, I can’t say anything about that.

“Whatever his decision was, it wasn’t for this organization, it wasn’t for this team and that’s on him. So I’m not very happy about it. I wish I had heard about it on the field, but I didn’t. Now is that why we lost? Absolutely not. But it’s hard to win football games if someone doesn’t want to play football. Especially if you are fit. It kind of makes you depressed, especially when you lose two linebackers and you could have used another one.”

San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward, playing in his third game since returning after his daughter’s death, was critical of Campbell’s actions.

“He’s a professional, he’s been playing for a long time,” Ward told reporters. “I mean if he didn’t want to play he shouldn’t have taken his clothes off, he could have told them that before the game. So I feel like that was some stupid thing he did. Definitely hurt the team. Because Dee (Greenlaw) was out and we needed a linebacker.

“In my opinion this is pretty stupid. It’ll probably be cut soon, so that’s what it is.”

Campbell’s actions were the main topic of conversation in a rainy affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., where two teams played for four days and both offenses struggled to get going throughout.

San Francisco managed to score a field goal on a drive that was started by quarterback Brock Purdy hitting Kittle for a 33-yard gain. A few plays later, 49ers kicker Jake Moody hit a 53-yarder to give San Francisco a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Rams would tie the game in the second quarter after a successful 48-yard field goal by Los Angeles kicker Joshua Karty.

However, that’s as much offense as either team would generate, as both teams hit the ball a total of seven times in the first quarter.

Rams quarterback Matt Stafford called it a “tough” game and pointed out that the weather had an impact on the game.

“Obviously we didn’t get off to a good start. I hit two 49ers in the chest early on, which isn’t great,” Stafford said, joking about his early struggles. “But you have to continue to be resilient and get back on your feet. The defense did a great job keeping us in it early.”

Los Angeles made three field goals in the fourth quarter and secured a crucial interception with just over five minutes left to seal the win.

According to the Amazon broadcast, Thursday night’s game marked the first time in 152 meetings between the two teams that neither scored a touchdown in the first three quarters.

Although Rams head coach Sean McVay didn’t score a touchdown, he praised his team for being able to win in “many ways.”

“We just had a 44-42 game – we have a lot of respect for this group,” McVay said. “I thought the defense just came out great and had a timeout. Josh Karty should be able to hit four field goals. … We love being able to finish with touchdowns, but sometimes you have to win ugly. There are no style points.”

With the win, Los Angeles improves to 8-6 on the season, winning seven of its last nine games and now has a 50 percent chance of securing a playoff spot, according to NFL.com.

“We can go out and play with anyone. It’s about us not being ourselves,” Rams defenseman Kobie Turner said. “Everything that happened tonight shows that we are playing our ball. That means we don’t kick ourselves in the foot. At the end of the day, that’s the type of team we are.”

Meanwhile, the 49ers fall to 6-8 and are in last place in the NFC West, with their chances of clinching a playoff spot dropping to less than one percent.

This story has been updated with additional information.