Eric Ebron throws shade at Matthew Stafford, but doesn’t really throw shade at Matthew Stafford

I know you all want to move on from Eric Ebron so bad right now, and I promise we’ll eventually get to that point in all of our lives (probably when the season start). But there was temporary INTERNET OUTRAGE today when Eric Ebron addressed the Indianapolis Colts’ media on Monday and said this (note: this is paraphrased):

Many, as Bob Kravitz suggests, took this as an insult to Matthew Stafford, who has been throwing passes to Ebron for the first four years of his professional career. I get how this one, non-direct quote from Ebron reads that way, but that’s not at all what this is.

Let’s remember the chain of events here. The Lions parted ways with Eric Ebron, not the other way around. Ebron then spent the next couple weeks searching for a team that he felt was a good match at the right price. He made visits with the Panthers and Colts, while the Patriots also reported some interest.

So when Ebron was given his choice to sign with teams—which obviously didn’t include the Lions—he wanted to play for a quarterback he felt comfortable with. If anything, this is shade at Cam Newton, not Stafford.

Kravitz goes on to suggest that Ebron was implying that the Lions didn’t utilize tight ends to his liking, but, again, that’s Kravitz’s interpretation. Ebron never said that. He did, however, say that new Colts head coach Frank Reich did a good job selling him on how he’ll be used in Indy (note the direct quotes here).

I listened to the entire press conference (you can here), and Ebron doesn’t mention Detroit once during the entire thing. If there’s a point in which he throws shade at the Lions it’s here. When asked if he thinks the tight end position will be a focal point of Colts offense, here’s what Ebron said.

“I hope so. I hope so. That would be refreshing.”

Ebron could very well be complaining that he wasn’t utilized to his best degree in Detroit, and maybe he has an argument there. Last year, he finished 10th among tight end targets in the league, but before that, the highest he ranked was 14th. Of course, Ebron’s up-and-down play may not have ever warranted that much focus, especially when the Lions were getting so much production out of guys like Golden Tate and Marvin Jones Jr.

Regardless, there’s just not much here to get upset about. While there are plenty of reasons for Lions fans to be frustrated with Ebron, whether its his inconsistent play or his online spats with Lions fans, this is a non-controversy.