Complement of the Object of a Preposition

What do you think of the construction, "Despite himself saying that he would be there..."
Compare that with, "Despite his (own) saying that he would be there...."
If you accept the first version, does it not follow that one might say, "Despite my neighbor saying that he would be there..."? In this case you cannot tell whether "saying" is restrictive or non-restrictive, i.e., "my neighbor who said" and "my neighbor, who said".