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Rumor of Kenny Golladay skipping meeting quickly shot down

There doesn’t appear to be a rift between Golladay and the team.

New Orleans Saints v Detroit Lions Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

After the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, a rumor popped up from CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. According to his report, Lions star receiver Kenny Golladay has been in a tense situation with the team that bubbled to the surface over the weekend.

“That came to a head on Saturday when I’m told he was not at the facility when he should have been,” La Canfora wrote. On television, he said the Lions had to track him down.

There has been signs of tension between Golladay and the team. Mainly, one cryptic Instagram post from the Lions receiver and a soft rumor that Detroit talked to the Giants briefly about a potential trade. Golladay and the Lions still haven’t reached an agreement on a long-term deal, which could perceivably be the reason for a potential rift in the relationship.

However, this report from La Canfora was quickly and thoroughly shot down by local reporters.

First, MLive photographer Mike Mulholland posted on Twitter that he literally saw Golladay on Saturday morning at the Chick-Fil-A just two miles outside of the Lions’ facility. And while that may feel a little too much like the limo reporting of a couple years ago, the local beat corroborated the story. The Detroit News’ Justin Rogers said he’s been told Golladay showed up as planned on Saturday and “there’s no issues” with him. Kyle Meinke of MLive wrote up a whole story on it, citing “multiple sources” that Golladay was there on Saturday.

“Golladay was at the Lions’ Allen Park training facility on Saturday, has not missed a meeting and remains in good standing with the team according to multiple sources,” Meinke wrote.

If we’re being fully transparent here, La Canfora’s track record has not been particularly good in the past. Some publications have told their writers to not run with his stories because his reporting is notoriously inaccurate. That’s the reason we didn’t run with it, either. Instead, I’m willing to trust the local beat on this one.

No drama. Move along.

UPDATE: Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press says he heard something similar to La Canfora, but this is how Matt Patricia responded to the story:

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