Reading his post, it seems to be the classic extended procrastination panic mode. I know it because I've dealt with it all my life. Keep putting something off, prioritizing other things, 'I'll do it tomorrow.' Well, tomorrow turns into weeks and then months. Then you finally realize one day 'shit, it's been 6 months, people are starting to really wonder. I haven't done shit, oh my god, I better do something now.'
You probably have thought about whatever you were supposed to be doing all this time. So you have some ideas, maybe even a couple small pieces started. And you think: 'Okay, don't panic, you can put this together in a weekend of long days, it will be enough to satisfy (boss/client/customer/etc.). If it isn't, it buys me another couple of days to finish it!' So you make some public proclamation: 'Hey, I'm really close, just need to finish up a couple things!' And you get a positive response. People are relieved because they were getting concerned.
Then you go try to do it, and it finally hits you that now you're trying to squeeze 6 months of work into a weekend. The problems start popping up, all the bits of work you're not accounting for when you're just spinning the big ideas in your head, the bug fixing, just so much to do. Now, the full weight of the anxiety and pressure of how much work you have to do hits you. Especially since you just made this 'I'm close just need a bit more time' proclamation. It becomes overwhelming and makes it even harder to work on what you're supposed to. Naturally, that builds and feeds into itself, a classic positive feedback loop.
At this point, several things can happen depending on your mental state and the gravity of the situation. Is it your job, just a promise you made to someone, your Ph.D. thesis, client project, pr0n game? I've run the spectrum of reactions to this climax. From the full 'fuck it, I'm screwed and can't face the music' avoidance and running away, blowing up my life in the process. Or even sometimes managing to pull something convincingly out of my ass. Or similar to this instance with BD, hopefully buying some time and understanding with a tidbit of progress. 'See I am working on something!' Along with a half-truth and a partial admission that 'sure you've been dropping the ball, you know it, and you feel bad' to generate a bit of sympathy. You do feel bad, because you're letting people down and you know it's your fault. Mostly it's to buy yourself a bit more time: you still have to convince whomever that you've been doing something all along. The consequences of what may happen if you don't receive the understanding or extra time you're hoping for are very in your face.
It's not a fun place to be. It will be interesting to see the resolution.
edit: typo and a couple missing words.