All offseason long, the assumption has been that Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone is unhappy with his contract and might be holding out.
That all started after some cryptic posts Anzalone made that hinted he might not be happy with his current contract situation as he enters the final year of his deal.
Then, Anzalone wasn't present for the voluntary portion of the offseason program, although that's something he has done before. The Lions didn't have a mandatory minicamp, so we didn't get to see if Anzalone would've showed up for that.
Fast forward to training camp this week and Anzalone is indeed in the building, head coach Dan Campbell said, before adding that Anzalone "crushed" the conditioning test despite being away from the team.
"He did a great job, he crushed the conditioning test," Campbell said of Anzalone. "Weight was good."
However, according to Pride of Detroit's Jeremy Reisman, Campbell said Anzalone will not be practicing for the team's first session on Sunday. After revealing that, reporters followed-up by asking if Anzalone was holding in.
“No way, right?” Campbell said of a possible hold-in. “I refuse to believe that. I refuse to believe that.”
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When asked more directly about an update on Anzalone's contract situation, Campbell was less assertive but did say Anzalone is "ready to go."
“No, not that I can really talk about,” Campbell said when asked for an update on the situation. “He’s here, reported, did great on the conditioning test, weight looks good, and ready to go.”
It remains unclear why Anzalone isn't going to be practicing for Day 1, but it could be as simple as the Lions just want to work him in slowly after he missed the offseason program.
Reisman adds that Al-Quadin Muhammad and Anthony Pittman aren't practicing, either, despite both passing their tests and not being on an injury list like Anzalone.
Even if Anzalone is holding in, the fact that he's simply in attendance beats the alternative of him not being there. Now, it'll be interesting to see how long his absence from practice lasts.
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