Eagles TE Zach Ertz has started to see his role in the offense slowly decrease each week. The tight end was targeted 10 times in the first two games of the season, and was targeted eight times in the team's loss to the Arizona Cardinals two weeks ago. Since that loss, Ertz has seen the ball come his way just five times in the past two weeks, a lack of action that has the tight end searching for answers.
"I asked them to put me on punt return, just so I could get out on the field," Ertz said. "I thought I did a good job with that."
One issue that could be keeping Ertz off the field is his blocking. His ability to hold his own on the offensive line was a major sticking point for coaches this past training camp. So far this season Ertz has been in on just 102 plays where he is asked to block.
"I don't know to be honest," Ertz said on if blocking was the issue. "I thought I blocked well tonight. I thought I played very well."
The story went on to say that, by comparison, veteran tight end Brent Celek — who caught five catches for 116 yards against Carolina — has been asked to block 266 times this season, meaning at this point, the team trusts Celek to block more than they do Ertz. With the Eagles line getting healthy, it's probably no coincidence Celek was more involved in the passing game in Week 10, something everyone thought would be said of Ertz. Right now, it seems like the team is going with the more versatile Celek who has always been able to block and catch. Whatever the issue is, Ertz seems bothered by it based on his comments in the story. It's going to be tough to trust him in fantasy lineups until we start to see more targets.
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