| Detroit Free Press
If Detroit Lions lose to Jaguars, is it over for Matt Patricia?
Detroit Lions face the Jaguars in a winnable game in Week 6. The Free Press’ Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez break down the matchup, Oct. 15, 2020.
Detroit Lions standout receiver Kenny Golladay was playing coy Friday when asked where things stand with his long-anticipated contract extension.
“I don’t think nothing came out yet,” Golladay said with a smile.
Does that mean news will be coming out soon?
“Uhhhh, I don’t know,” a still-smiling Golladay said.
Golladay has expressed varying levels of confidence in recent months about striking a new deal with the team that took him in the third round of the 2017 draft.
Privately, he indicated to friends this summer he expected to sign a long-term extension to stay in Detroit, and in his first media availability of the season in August said he was, “pretty sure something will get done.”
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After missing the first two games of the season with a pulled hamstring, Golladay said he was not sure how the injury impacted talks, which he was leaving to his agent.
On Friday, Golladay said he has not put a deadline in place for a new contract and is willing to continue negotiating through the season.
Whenever he signs his next contract, Golladay is expected to become one of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers.
“I’m going to just play the season and if a contract gets done, it gets done,” he said. “And I don’t care if it takes till the end of the season, then it takes till the end of the season. If it doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen. Just keep moving forward. Only thing I can really control right now is my play on the field and the energy I bring on the field every day.”
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On the field, Golladay remains the Lions’ clear-cut No. 1 receiver, though his yards per catch have dropped significantly from a career-best 18.3 ypc last year to 11.9 ypc this fall.
The Lions have struggled to get their deep passing game on track, though Golladay downplayed those struggles.
“It’s still early,” he said. “We’re just now getting into the second quarter of football. Got to keep working. I just really just put it on that. Just got to keep working. Every year is different. We probably had the deep ball going last year but this is a different year. Teams know what to expect when they come to Detroit or play against Detroit, so we just got to keep working and be able to, if the deep ball isn’t there, still be able to check the ball down and get it across the middle.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.