I don't think that guy made it up. He heard it from someone. AFAIK that guy broke the Montgomery/Sacco news before any insider. So he does have at least some sources.
Now, here's a wild theory. His source is someone close to management/coaching staff, and they purposefully told this reporter a white lie, to try and unite the locker room a bit. Kinda like how Tortorella loves to draw the attention to himself, in order to protect his players.