Zach Ertz is officially back in Philadelphia.
The Eagles legend is signing to the practice squad and landed at the airport on Tuesday morning before heading to the Eagles complex. And, of course, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark was there to greet him.
Ertz and his entire family are thrilled that he’s returning to the Eagles.
“My mom was in tears. My wife was ecstatic,” Ertz said. “My kids, they don’t really understand but I already had the boys practicing the E-A-G-L-E-S chant. So overall it was good. It’s exciting times and, like I said, just really happy to be back. And honored to be back in the Eagles green. But at the end of the day, I’ve got to go earn whatever role I can. So that’s the goal right now.”
Ertz, 35, is signing to the Eagles’ practice squad to start. But his arrival comes as we learned on Monday that starting tight end Dallas Goedert will miss the next few weeks with an MCL sprain.
If Ertz can get caught up to speed quickly, he’s going to have a chance to contribute as early as Monday night in Chicago.
“I mean, obviously it’s going to be special,” Ertz said. “But for me, it’s just trying to have a great week of practice, obviously. I’ve got to earn everything on this team. … I would say there’s like 10 guys on the team who have played with me, know me personally. So for me it’s just going to be a great experience to get back in the building, get around the guys and earn whatever I can.”
Ertz was having a very good season with the Commanders last season before tearing his ACL. He had 50 catches for 504 yards and 4 touchdowns in just 13 games last season.
The Eagles traded Ertz during the 2021 season after he spent 8 1/2 seasons with the team that drafted him in the second round. Ertz is just 10 catches behind Harold Carmichael on the Eagles’ all-time receptions list.
Ertz said he followed the Eagles closely during his time with other teams. He always hoped he’d end up back in Philly. Heck, he talked about that in his farewell press conference back in 2021.
“I was hoping,” Ertz said. “Obviously, everyone knew how I felt about this place when I left.”
Because the Eagles play on Monday night, Ertz will have an extra day to learn the Eagles’ new playbook under coordinator Sean Mannion. That cramming session starts now.
“I’ve learned a lot of playbooks over the years,” Ertz said. “The routes are pretty much the routes. In the NFL, you kind of just call them different things. It’s about memorizing and getting up to speed as fast as I can.”
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