Tag: Jason LaCanfora

Local Lions reporters shut down rumor of Kenny Golladay skipping Saturday meeting

Local Lions reporters shut down the CBS Sports rumor of wide receiver Kenny Golladay skipping Saturday’s meeting over a contract dispute.

The trade deadline is Tuesday and it’s a good time to remember, that not all reports/reporters are equal. It’s good practice to know which reporters have reliable sources and which ones are simply throwing darts, hoping for something to hit so they can give the appearance of being informed.

Following the Detroit Lions game on CBS, a reporter suggested that wide receiver Kenny Golladay purposefully missed Saturday’s practice — upset with not having a contract extension settled with the team — and that a team representative had to track him down.

For the most part, this rumor was ignored by the Lions media, as most have a habit of not throwing fuel on an unsubstantiated fire.

But this morning, with the rumor surrounding Golladay still lingering, several local media members reached out to multiple sources within the Lions organization and confirmed that Golladay was with the team on Saturday, directly contradicting the initial rumor.

Even local MLive photographer Mike Mulholland posted on Twitter that he saw Golladay at a drive-thru two miles away from the Allen Park facility and he was picking up food for teammates.

There are for sure instances where national reporters will get a scoop before the Lions beat, but one of the sure-fire ways of knowing which national reports should be taken seriously is to see how the local reporters react to the news.

If the local media ignores the rumor, it’s a safe bet you can ignore it as well.

As is the case here.

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One NFL analyst believes Bears among teams sitting at ‘rock bottom’

CBS Sports’ Jason LaCanfora ranked the Bears among the five worst teams in the NFL, those sitting at “rock bottom.”

The Chicago Bears appear to be the punching bag of the NFL’s 2020 offseason. No matter this a team that had a majorly disappointing season and still came out of it with a 8-8 record.

When one analyst discussed the Bears being among the worst two teams in the NFL, it was a bold take. Then when others started piling on, it’s become a trend.

CBS Sports’ Jason LaCanfora is the latest to criticize the Bears, ranking them among the five worst teams in the NFL — those at “rock bottom” — which also includes the New York Giants, New York Jets, Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars.

No QB of the present, no QB of the future, not enough draft capital and a front office that has gone a long while without hitting a double much less a homer, with far too many K’s along the way.

The other four teams mentioned — the Giants, Jets, Redskins and Jaguars — all had less wins than the Bears a season ago. And considering the Bears were a 12-4 team the previous season with basically the same roster, there’s reason to believe that they should be better if they fix the offense in 2020.

Look, it’s easy to understand why the Bears have become the punching bag for analysts this offseason. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is the biggest reason. He regressed significantly in his third season to the point that the Bears brought in Nick Foles to challenge for the starting job in 2020.

But it wasn’t just Trubisky that was bad — although it’s easy to place the blame on him. The entire offense was bad, which was concerning considering Year 2 was supposed to be when this unit progressed under Matt Nagy.

While the offense remains the biggest concern for the Bears heading into 2020, analysts seem to forget that Chicago returns a top-five defense from the previous two season — a unit that has made some upgrades at pass rusher and safety.

This was also a defense that suffered injuries to key starters in defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and linebackers Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith. Still, in spite of the injury struggles, they finished as one of the NFL’s top defenses.

While it’s fair to question whether the Bears can eclipse the .500 mark in 2020, ranking them among the worst teams in the NFL when they weren’t last season is a lazy take.

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