ALLEN PARK — If Eric Ebron wasn’t working hard, his Lions’ teammates would be concerned. That is not the case.
Wide receiver Golden Tate said he expects Ebron will have a career type game “real soon.”
The tight end has had issues holding onto the ball, especially in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers when he was targeted four times and had one catch. On the opening drive he dropped a third-down pass in the end zone.
Ebron met with Matthew Stafford to figure out what he can do better.
“I’ll keep that between Eric and I. I don’t feel like I need to share that with you guys,’’ Stafford said on Wednesday. “But he’s a guy that’s really talented that can help us, and he’s got to continue to work hard and continue to try to improve just like everybody.”
In the first five games Ebron has a dozen catches for 93 yards.
In Week 2, he was targeted five times and caught all five for 42 yards and a touchdown.
“I think the best thing to do is to know when you ball out, the social media will be there to praise you. The next week if you don’t ball out they’ll be right there to tear you down. It’s kind of a what have you done for me lately kind of deal,’’ wide receiver Golden Tate said on Wednesday.
“I just want to remind him, ‘Hey, you’re a heck of a player, you’re here for a reason. We need you in order to go where we want to go. All we want you to do is keep working hard, keep working hard, be mentally strong, understand your assignment and just keep growing,’’ Tate said.
“We understand mistakes are a part of this game but us bashing him — or anyone in this organization — is not going to help us. Our job is to build each other up and keep working, keep working together, it’s going to come around,’’ Tate added. “He’s here for a reason and he knows that, he’s a heck of a player, he’s shown time in and time out in practice that he deserves to be here. We keep supporting him, keep working together.
“The problem would be if any player is messing up consistently but not out here working, not trying to get better but you don’t see that from him,’’ Tate said. “He wants this bad. He knows how good he is, sometimes you need to be reminded of that.’’
Coach Jim Caldwell was thinking along those same lines when he commented on Ebron’s play on Monday.
“There’s a lot of folks that have a bad game or a bad stretch. And he’s got talent. He works at it, and it’s our job to get it out of him,’’ Caldwell said.
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