Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron has struggled with drops this season, and that pattern continued during Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers. As frustration mounts for Ebron, he apparently has no problem pinning some of the blame on his quarterback.
Ebron, who caught just one pass for six yards on Sunday, was booed when a would-be touchdown bounced off his chest. However, replays showed that the ball went through Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson’s hands, which likely broke his focus.
This is an absolute ridiculous throw by Stafford. Ebron drop pic.twitter.com/1qtw9yQcE9
— Billy Marshall (@BillyM_91) October 9, 2017
I know no one wants to hear it, but when a pass like Ebron's TD drop goes through a defender's hands like this, it's hard to focus on it. pic.twitter.com/SMIab7vO9E
— Pride of Detroit (@PrideOfDetroit) October 9, 2017
Rather than claim responsibility for not catching the ball, Ebron basically threw Matthew Stafford under the bus.
“Shaq made a great play on that one, actually,” he told reporters, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “If you want to call it a drop, that’s cool. It hit my right shoulder, but he should have intercepted that ball. It went right through his hands and blinded me from it. But I should have caught it. I guess if you want to say, this is professional football. I should have caught that.
“Shaq Thompson had his hands under the ball. In my mind, he should have caught an interception, but he didn’t and he made a great play and blinded me from the ball and last minute it popped up on my right shoulder.”
Ebron also seemingly tweeted a reference to the play.
Some of you wouldn’t know the half. Boooo me all u want but pay attention to the whole picture #StayWoke
— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) October 8, 2017
If Ebron insisted on defending himself, there were other ways to do it without criticizing Stafford for making a bad throw. There’s a reason Ebron has found himself on our list of most disappointing players this season. Calling out the quarterback is never a good look.
