Eric Ebron,Harrison Smith

Lions tight end Eric Ebron has been scorching hot since returning from injury.

(AP Photo)

ALLEN PARK -- Eric Ebron was the Detroit Lions' second-leading receiver when he suffered knee and ankle injuries in a Week 4 loss against Chicago.

And he's been even better since returning.

Ebron set a career high with seven catches (for 79 yards) two weeks ago in Houston, then matched it for a career-best 92 yards in Sunday's win against Minnesota.

That's 14 catches for 171 yards since returning from injury, the best two-game stretch of his career.

"He's playing well," coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's catching the ball well. He's running like we know he can run. He's making plays. But I just think he's on that kind of progression where you see guys just improve. Each and every year."

Ebron faced some lofty expectations after going 10th overall in the 2014 draft, and came up well short as a rookie. He showed up ill-prepared and immature to deal with the demands of the position, and floundered to a 25-catch, 248-yard season.

He showed some sharp improvement in Year 2, though, doubling his production to 47 catches for 537 yards and five touchdowns. And now he's sitting on 32 catches for 381 yards this year, even though he's played in just six games.

His per-game output is 63.5 yards per game, which ranks fifth in the league at the position. Only Greg Olsen (84.1 ypg), Rob Gronkowski (80.7), Jordan Reed (69.2) and Jimmy Graham (68.1) are averaging more.

Right now, he's on pace to rack up 825.5 yards, which would have made him a top-10 tight end in 2015.

"I would say what he did as a rookie is kind of what you expect rookies to do," Caldwell said. "I think his potential matching up with his physical tools and those kinds of things, he's coming, not there yet, but he's coming."

Ebron might never totally live up to the draft hype, especially when considering Aaron Donald and Odell Beckham were drafted right after him. So was Taylor Lewan, who has become a top left tackle.

But he's continuing to progress every year, and the Lions believe on his way to becoming what they envisioned when they took him so highly.

"He hasn't arrived yet," Caldwell, "but he's playing well."