Zach Ertz's silent season continues: ‘My number just not being called'

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Zach Ertz’s nightmare 2016 continued Sunday night, when the fourth-year tight end had just 19 receiving yards, his third straight game below 25 yards.

Ertz, who had 702 yards in 2014 and 853 last year, has just 150 in five games this year and is on pace for a career-low 420.

“My number is just not being called right now,” Ertz said. “I’ll never second-guess the coaches. I’ll never second-guess Carson (Wentz). That’s just the way the games have gone.

“Obviously, you want to be involved each and every play. But that’s not really the case right now.”

Ertz had 469 yards as a rookie. Over the 2014 and 2015 seasons, he ranked sixth among all NFL tight ends with 1,555 receiving yards.

And he had catches of 13 and 14 yards on the Eagles’ first drive of this season against the Browns. Those remain two of his four-longest catches this year.

Ertz had just one catch in the Washington and Minnesota games and was just 4-for-19 Sunday night in the overtime loss in Dallas.

In Ertz’s defense, he’s just not being targeted nearly as much as in the past.

In 2014 and 2015, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez and Sam Bradford targeted Ertz an average of 6.5 times per game. This year, that number is down to 4.0 per game.

And when Ertz does catch the ball, he’s either not in open space or he’s been unable to break loose of a tackler.

Ertz doesn’t have a catch longer than 22 yards this year after piling up 19 receptions of 23 yards or more in his first three NFL seasons.

He did miss two games with an injury, but Ertz — after ranking sixth among all tight ends the last two years — now ranks 32nd with 15 catches and 31st in yards.

“I’m just out there trying to do my job, block to the best of my ability, get up when my name is called for a pass play and catch the ball when it’s in the air,” Ertz said.

“That’s all I can do. Be ready when the ball comes my way. Everything else is out of my control.”

It’s not like the other tight ends are doing anything either. Brent Celek has one catch for seven yards in the last four games, and Trey Burton is 3-for-18 in the last four games.

Asked Sunday night at his locker at AT&T Stadium if he's frustrated, Ertz said: "I'm frustrated when we lose. This was a game that we feel like we should have won, and we didn't. That's what's frustrating to me."

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