Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Eric Ebron had the biggest game of his life — eight catches for 199 yards and a touchdown — three years ago as a junior at North Carolina.

Ebron’s Tar Heels lost to Miami that day, but he gave his new position coach, then Hurricanes head coach Al Golden, a glimpse of what he could be as a player.

“He’s very talented, and he’s explosive, and he’s strong,” said Golden, who took over as Lions tight ends coach in February. “He’s probably stronger than he was when he first arrived. He’s probably 256, 257, 258 (pounds), in that range. So, he’s clearly strong. He’s explosive. I’m just trying to help him refine. I’m trying to help him refine everything.”

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The Lions are counting on Ebron to play a more formidable role on offense after two up-and-down seasons. Golden has been tasked with helping the third-year tight end develop his prodigious talent.

As a rookie, Ebron, the 10th overall pick of the 2014 draft, caught 25 passes for 248 yards while missing three games with a hamstring injury.

Last year, he nearly doubled his production — 47 catches for 537 yards — but still had bouts of inconsistent play.

Golden said he watched every game Ebron played upon taking the Lions job in February and said Ebron’s biggest challenge right now is “internal.”

“His challenge is not anybody else,” Golden said. “His challenge is how does he develop his game, how can we improve his process and what skills can we refine to make sure we get his talent into the game?”

This spring, with veteran tight end Brandon Pettigrew rehabbing from knee surgery, Golden said he saw Ebron make strides off the field in meetings and in terms of “eliminating the clutter and just keeping his focus narrow and making his game tight.”

Now, the challenge is to carry that into the fall, when Ebron will be front and center as the Lions reinvent their offense after the retirement of Calvin Johnson.

“I think the biggest thing for him is to put blinders on, stay intrinsically motivated, be around people that can make his world or his life better, that can help him improve and tune the rest of it out, to be honest with you,” Golden said. “It’s too premature for me to comment on anything other than that, but again, we lost some production obviously on offense, so he knows that he’s got to be one of the components that keep that production where it was or increase it. And I know he’s up to the challenge.”

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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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