Detroit Lions TE Michael Roberts wants expanded role in 2018

No matter what the Detroit Lions do at the tight end position this offseason — Eric Ebron is under contract with his fifth-year option, and Darren Fells is an unrestricted free agent — Michael Roberts is ready for a bigger role in 2018.

Roberts played in 15 games with three starts last season, and was used primarily as a blocker.

He caught just four passes on the season for 46 yards, and his immaturity got him suspended for violating team rules in Week 17. But the Lions’ fourth-round pick last year out of Toledo said he’s confident he’ll make a big step forward in his second NFL season.

"I’m not hoping,” Roberts said at the Super Bowl earlier this month. “Honestly, I made a few mistakes. I did things a little different than I’d like in my rookie year and man it really just taught me so many different things. I learned a lot about myself, about the organization, about how to be a professional all the way around. So just excited."

Roberts said he expects to play next season as an “every-down tight end,” the role the Lions envisioned for him coming out of school.

General manager Bob Quinn has said Ebron will return in 2018 — Ebron’s $8.25 million salary becomes guaranteed on the first day of the new league year — but the Lions and Fells aren’t close to a contract extension and the team often played two tight ends last year.

Roberts, who disappeared the night before the Lions’ Week 17 game against the Green Bay Packers and missed team meetings, said he’s already started training for next season.

He plans to spend February doing boxing and Pilates as a way to work on his hand-eye coordination and cardio, and dive more heavily into weight training next month before the Lions report for offseason workouts the first week of April.

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Roberts said he trusts that Quinn made the right hire in new coach Matt Patricia.

“I believe in Bob and I believe that he’s putting someone in place that the whole goal is to win a Super Bowl, and if that’s who he gives us the best chance than I believe it with him,” Roberts said. “Coaching change, I’ve been through it before, within Toledo. It didn’t really do too much, we just kept it going, maybe like a little breath of fresh air, but you never know until you get in. But I truly belief that it’s a good move.”

As for what having a new coach means for him, Roberts said he’s ready for big things no matter who's coaching the Lions.

“I have experience under my belt (now),” he said. “Same thing happened at Toledo, I had experience, I took off.”

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