While He May Have Doubted His Return, Zach Ertz Never Fully Checked Out

The Eagles TE broke his silence and spoke about watching film of OTA practices after not showing up for them, his relationship with Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni

PHILADELPHIA – Eagles tight Zach Ertz decided to skip OTAs this past spring, uncertain of his fate with the Eagles.

Would he be gone when training camp opened?

Would he be traded?

Would he be released?

While he may have had some doubts as to what fate awaited him, Ertz never really totally checked out of returning to the team that drafted him in the second round out of Stanford back in 2014.

And now he has returned and he broke his eight-month silence on Wednesday.

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When OTAs arrived in May, and Ertz did not, the tight end was home watching tape of practice, learning about new position coach Jason Michael.

“I wanted to see what Jason Michael did as a tight-end coach because a lot of people had raved about him, particularly (former Eagles TE) Trey Burton, who is one of my best friends,” said Ertz. “He was in my wedding. Love the guy, and he’s been so mentally good for me during this time, but to see his individual and see what he was about.”

Ertz liked what he saw.

It helped that Michael kept in touch with Ertz, too, keeping him informed of what was happening at practice and, more importantly, keeping the welcome mat out just in case the veteran tight end did return.

When summer arrived, and Ertz was still on the team, he and Jalen Hurts got together and threw the ball around, and Ertz liked what he saw there, too.

Even though Hurts had not yet been officially named the starter, he was the clear frontrunner to replace Ertz’s good friend, Carson Wentz, who was sent packing in a March trade to Indianapolis.

“Obviously, things happened with Carson,” said Ertz. “He’s not here, but at the same time, Jalen has been awesome this summer. When I was back here this summer throwing with him, even before training camp, I could tell right away he wasn’t the same player he was when we left in January. I think it’s a testament to the work ethic.

“He’s willing to work, to continue to grow, and it’s just been fun to learn new things with new players and new coaches.”

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Throughout camp, Ertz and Hurts stayed well after practice to work on their timing together.

“I think Zach has come in here with great intentions and great energy,” said Hurts. “We’ve obviously got a lot of work in, a lot of extra work in after practice, a lot of conversations, and trying to get things on the same page.

“I think he’s come in and has been a great leader. He’s led by example. He’s a veteran guy, he has a Super Bowl on his name and he knows how to win. I’m excited to have him and have seen the things he’s been able to do this training camp, all beneficial for the team.”

Ertz mentioned the coaches, and he praised head coach Nick Sirianni as well.

“I told someone this the other day, I’ve learned so much from Nick Sirianni as a receiver and as a receivers coach and him implementing so much of his techniques and the details,” said Ertz. 

“He’s so good as a technician, I’m just picking things each and every day from him that I never even thought about. It was almost counterintuitive to the way that I had so much success for a lot of things. So, I’m excited to sort of show off some of the things that I learned from coach.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.