Insider: Why Eric Ebron isn't playing more for the Colts

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INDIANAPOLIS — Eric Ebron is starting to make a few people in Detroit wonder what might have been.

Ebron, who was saddled with the weight of unattainable expectation and subjected to unrelenting criticism during his four seasons with the Lions, is playing like a Pro Bowler in Indianapolis.

While a Lions team desperate for meaningful production out of the tight end position tumbled to its third straight loss Sunday, Ebron was catching two touchdown passes and running for another score in another brilliant showing. The performance prompted a Detroit Free-Press columnist to ask first-year Lions head coach Matt Patricia if Detroit regrets the decision to cut Ebron last March, given the way he’s playing now.

“I’m not really sure what he’s doing with the Colts,” Patricia said. “Or what the Colts are doing with him right now.”

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If Patricia honestly hasn’t been paying attention, he’d be one of a dwindling few around the NFL still unaware of the season Ebron is putting together in Frank Reich’s offense. Ebron ranks first on the Colts in catches (39), yards (463) and touchdowns (10), the last number tying him for sixth in the NFL, right next to luminaries like Antonio Brown and Tyreek Hill.

By comparison, the Lions’ entire group of tight ends has just 24 catches, 217 yards and three touchdowns. Ebron isn’t just out-producing the men tabbed to replace him; he’s been twice as good as the entire group.

Where Detroit saw a player who wasn’t worth the $8.25 million he was scheduled to make in 2018, the Colts saw a game-breaking talent at the tight end position, and Ebron believed the Indianapolis decision-makers when they told him they knew how to best deploy his blend of speed, leaping ability and size.

“I knew that they would allow me to make plays, allow me to be me and do what I do best,” said Ebron, who scored his 3 touchdowns Sunday on just 21 snaps. “It was one of the reasons why I came here, and I knew Andrew (Luck) would facilitate it all good enough. That way, I’d be open.”

Ebron even knew the Colts planned to use him as something of a sniper, a big-play specialist deployed in specific situations and personnel packages instead of an every-down infantryman. Ebron has played just 360 snaps, 201 fewer than any of the other three players with nine or more touchdown catches.

And he might have logged even fewer plays if Jack Doyle hadn’t gotten hurt in the second game of the season. Ebron led Colts tight ends in snaps in each of the five games Doyle missed, averaging 53.8 snaps per game.

Ebron averages just 22.8 snaps per game when Doyle’s available.

As productive as Ebron has been, the obvious train of thought is to put him on the field more, but the simple reason for his lack of playing time is that players like Doyle, Mo Alie-Cox and Ryan Hewitt are better blockers than Ebron. The Colts have the luxury of asking Ebron to spend most of his time doing exactly what he does best.

“Ebron is a little bit like a receiver with his explosiveness, but he knows that we can’t just throw the ball to him,” Colts coach Frank Reich said. “He’s going to have to block some. We don’t want to make him block 50 times a game, but when he has to, he will do a good job blocking.”

A different player might chafe at a reduced role.

When Doyle returned to the lineup against Oakland and logged 57 snaps to Ebron’s 17, there was Ebron in the locker room, grinning from ear to ear and celebrating the return of Doyle to take the pounding off of him.

This is what he signed up for.

“I’m OK with it, because I know that when I am on the field, it’s a presence,” Ebron said. “Whether it’s me getting the ball or not, my presence is felt.”

Ebron is the type of sniper who can be just as productive in a reduced role. In those four games with Doyle, Ebron has caught 13 passes for 183 yards and five touchdowns, plus the rushing touchdown he scored on Sunday.

“Every time he’s given the opportunity to make a play, he makes a play,” Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni said.

Ebron doesn’t necessarily like to talk about his Lions tenure. The scars from Detroit are still fresh.

But when he’s told about Patricia’s comment in the Colts locker room, Ebron doesn’t take it as a slight.

“He has his own team, a whole team to worry about,” Ebron said. “From what I know, they’re struggling right now, so he has a lot to worry about, a lot on his plate right now. I don’t expect him to know anything about me.”

Just about everybody else is taking notice.