Detroit Lions' Eric Ebron: I 'got to get my act together' on field

A slow start to the season has left Eric Ebron "in the dumps" mentally, and the Detroit Lions tight end said he met with quarterback Matthew Stafford on Monday in an attempt to rediscover the groove he had while catching a career-high 61 passes last season.

"That’s my guy," Ebron told the Free Press during a promotional interview for the video game "Call of Duty" on Tuesday. "We had a talk after the game, on Monday, yesterday actually, and just basically tried to help him will me around because I feel like I’ve been in the dumps and haven’t been as mentally engaged as I should be, and he helped me out.

"I can rely on him and he relies on me and that’s what kind of relationship we’ve built over these four years, so I leaned upon him and he’s been a good dude for me."

Ebron is off to a slow start in what is essentially a contract year, catching just 12 passes for 93 yards in the Lions' first five games.

He's averaging a career-low 7.8 yards per catch and had two prominent drops in last week's 27-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers, including one in the end zone on the game's opening drive when the Lions settled for a field goal.

Ebron did not reveal the details of his sit-down with Stafford and declined to specify what other steps he's taking to improve his play., but he said he's working on "whatever it is I got to work on and go from there."

"Just got to get my act together as far as playing," Ebron said. "From the way I practice to the way I play are two different things. I’ve been really successful as far as practicing, I just need to get it as far as the game wise and I don’t – I don’t know what the mental blockage is, but I’ll just get it together."

More Ebron news:

Detroit Lions TE Eric Ebron after dropped passes: 'I played crappy'

Detroit Lions' Eric Ebron adds Pilates to regimen, anticipates a big year

The 10th overall pick of the 2014 draft, Ebron has been a longstanding lightning rod for criticism by Lions fans upset the team passed on Odell Beckham Jr. and Aaron Donald to take a tight end in the first round.

Ebron said after Sunday's game that he's not bothered by fans criticism – he was booed loudly after both of his drops, and the Ford Field crowd gave him a Bronx cheer after his lone reception in the fourth quarter – and insisted Monday that "it just takes one (big) play" to turn perceptions around.

"A tight end at 10, if that’s where (the Lions) thought I should be drafted, that’s where they thought I should be drafted," Ebron said. "I didn’t necessarily think I was going to get drafted 10th overall. (Shoot), I didn’t even think, I didn’t even expect to get drafted until that year. So it is what it is. I just got to go out there and play football and play my style of football and go back to doing the things that I’m used to. And I feel like that’ll help me translate to getting back to my old ways, I guess."

More:Lions film review: How Carolina's Ed Dickson burned the secondary

Ebron said comments he made after Sunday's loss both in the locker room and on Twitter that seemed to be aimed at Stafford and/or offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter were "just talk" and not intended to that way at all.

"I guess whatever people want to make a story about," he said.

Ebron, after the game, appeared to take issue with one of his targets being called a drop. He said his would-be touchdown should have been an interception by Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson, who obscured his view of the ball in the end zone, and that he needs to "hopefully put myself in better situations or get put in better situations to succeed.”

Later, he tweeted that fans need to "pay attention to the whole picture."

"I’m not blaming my quarterback, if that’s what you guys are trying to make out of it," Ebron said Tuesday. "But what I’m saying is that the linebacker made a great play. He didn’t necessarily make the play, therefore I should have caught it because it hit me. So he got a great play. Distraction drills, we work on it. Not to that intensity, but he made a great play and in my mind should have picked it, and then in other people’s eyes and mine as well, I should have caught it. It is what it is."

With one year left on his rookie contract at a salary of $8.25 million that's currently guaranteed for injury only, some have suggested that both the 24-year-old Ebron and the Lions are in need of a fresh start.

Ebron, who currently ranks fourth on the Lions in receptions, said he's not sure that's the case.

"I don’t know what that means," Ebron said, adding, "That's up to the GM. Of course I love to play football, so as long as I’m playing football, because obviously the love of what I do, that’s why I’m here, then, hey, if they want to keep me long term, I’m more than happy to stay. If not, then I have to then refocus my mind and see what’s going to be the next step to my life. Other than that, I plan on being here."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!