Speaker 1: It's a rainy Monday in Philadelphia, but there's a lot
Speaker 1: to look forward to with the first preseason games just
Speaker 1: three days away. Bellow Eagles fans, I'm Christma Experienson and
Speaker 1: welcome to Inside training Camp, presented by Expanity. We'll have
Speaker 1: a difference. Been on highlights as it was Kids' Day
Speaker 1: at Lincoln Financial Field and over thirty six thousand fans
Speaker 1: attended the final open practice of this year's training camp.
Speaker 1: But first on today's show. Tight End zach Ertz led
Speaker 1: the Eagles in both receptions in yards in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: In fact, from November first of last season until the end,
Speaker 1: he was second in the league among all all past
Speaker 1: catchers in receptions. He still thinks there's a lot of
Speaker 1: room to improve. As an interesting selection for the team's
Speaker 1: Best Offseason edition, he shares it in this one on
Speaker 1: one interview with Alex Smith. Hi, everyone, and welcome to
Speaker 1: Eagles training Camp. I'm Alex Smith, and the man sitting
Speaker 1: to my left his Eagles tight end zach Ertz. Zach
Speaker 1: training Camp number five for you already, I mean, where's
Speaker 1: the time? Gun? Can you believe it's already fifth year
Speaker 1: in the NFL? Yeah? It's crazy. I mean, the time
Speaker 1: it's just gone by so fast. Luckily I've played here
Speaker 1: in my entire career. It's truly been a blessing being
Speaker 1: here in Philadelphia. I've loved it ever since we've moved
Speaker 1: out here five years ago. Now it's incredible. I don't
Speaker 1: know really where the time's gone, but it's been an
Speaker 1: amazing time so far. What do you remember most about
Speaker 1: your rookie training camp in twenty thirteen? How lost that was?
Speaker 1: Probably Stanford's graduation rules didn't prohibit me, or I wasn't
Speaker 1: allowed to come out here for that whole spring. So
Speaker 1: being here in August was the first time I'd ever
Speaker 1: really stepped foot in the city, and everything was a whirlwin.
Speaker 1: I was blocking guys I were way bigger, way stronger,
Speaker 1: way faster than me. So I mean, I just got
Speaker 1: my butt kick because a humbling experience going against tred
Speaker 1: Cole every day. But I think I got better because
Speaker 1: of it, mentally and physically. Zach. When you look at
Speaker 1: the offense last year, the tight ends were a huge
Speaker 1: part in that you had over eight hundred receiving yards.
Speaker 1: H What do you take away from last year when
Speaker 1: you look back at it. Yeah, I think obviously it
Speaker 1: was a big year for us having Carson as our quarterback,
Speaker 1: knowing who the guy is going to be for the
Speaker 1: next fifteen years hopefully, and hopefully I'll be with them
Speaker 1: for all the years coming forward. But it was a
Speaker 1: good year for the tight ends. We're definitely not satisfied
Speaker 1: by any means. I think we got a big chip
Speaker 1: on our shoulder as a group. Um, we got a
Speaker 1: lot of really talented players in the room, we got
Speaker 1: a unbelievable coach and just appeal. So I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a better year this year. What's the next
Speaker 1: step for you personally? I would just think when going
Speaker 1: to the playoffs and winning the playoffs game. I mean
Speaker 1: I went to the playoffs in thirteen, my rookie year.
Speaker 1: We played the Saints in that game, but we lost
Speaker 1: and we haven't been back since. We haven't really competed
Speaker 1: for the division since. So that's the goal of this
Speaker 1: year is to win the NFC East and then hopefully
Speaker 1: win a playoff game. Is there a sense of urgency
Speaker 1: within the locker room to get back into the playoffs
Speaker 1: for sure? I Mean, we don't come out here just
Speaker 1: to come out here and play. We come out here
Speaker 1: to win football games. We're not busting our butts in
Speaker 1: August and even in the spring just to be an
Speaker 1: average football team. We want to be a great football team.
Speaker 1: That's the goal this year, and we've been working really
Speaker 1: hard that this this summer, Zach, you mentioned it's year
Speaker 1: two with Carson, but the offense looks a little different
Speaker 1: this year with the guys on the outside, new receivers,
Speaker 1: brought in new faces. What will that do for you
Speaker 1: and the tight end group in the middle of the field. Um,
Speaker 1: we'll see. I mean, obviously, we gotta go out there
Speaker 1: and make plays. That's all. That's all that really matters
Speaker 1: in the end of the at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be a little bit of a learning curve
Speaker 1: at the beginning, just to kind of figure out everything.
Speaker 1: But I think that's started a long time ago in
Speaker 1: the spring, guys kind of finding their roles each and
Speaker 1: every day. I mean, we added two extremely talented, et
Speaker 1: extremely proven guys and Tori and Alshon and the whole
Speaker 1: level of the receiving corps has risen because of it.
Speaker 1: M Nelson's had a unbelievable spring and summer Jordan Matthews
Speaker 1: getting back out. They having a great start to cam
Speaker 1: Marcus Johnson has looked phenomenal each and every day he's
Speaker 1: out here and making plays. He's been unbelievable so far
Speaker 1: the summer. So we got a really talented group. I
Speaker 1: think coach my girls doing an unbelievable job with that crew.
Speaker 1: Bringing him in was a huge addition for our football team,
Speaker 1: probably one of the more underrated things that we did
Speaker 1: this offseason with signing Mike m So we're excited about
Speaker 1: the team, excited about that unit. It seems like there's
Speaker 1: a new sense of energy, a new sense of focus
Speaker 1: with this group. Do you feel that, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: I mean you're two with Carson, You're two with Duck.
Speaker 1: I mean there there should be a reason for optimism.
Speaker 1: We got an unbelievable offensive line, we got to prove
Speaker 1: in front seven on defense, extremely talented safeties, and we
Speaker 1: got a lot of talent on this football team. Honestly,
Speaker 1: so I think there's a huge reason for optimism with
Speaker 1: this team. All right, Jack, My last question for you,
Speaker 1: what's more stressful game planning or wedding planning? Well, luckily
Speaker 1: I didn't have to do much wedding planning. Julie did
Speaker 1: all of that. The game planning, I would say it's
Speaker 1: a little more stressful, but I don't really have to
Speaker 1: do any of that, So I just kind of go
Speaker 1: out there and show up and make sure I'm at
Speaker 1: my best for both occasions. Eagles tight end Zach Ertz,
Speaker 1: thank you very much for joining us, and thank you
Speaker 1: all for joining us right here on Philadelphi Eagles dot com.
Speaker 1: I told you that Zack's answer for biggest offseason move
Speaker 1: would surprise you now speaking up big moves. The Eagles
Speaker 1: at a running back little Garrett Blunt this offseason, who
Speaker 1: at six feet two hundred and fifty pounds, brings a
Speaker 1: different dimension to the Eagles offense to compliment Darren Sproles
Speaker 1: among others. Last season in New England, he rushed for
Speaker 1: an NFL high eighteen rushing touchdowns and gained over eleven
Speaker 1: hundred yards on the ground for the Super Bowl champions.
Speaker 1: The subject of our latest in Focus explains why he
Speaker 1: chose to sign with the Eagles. That Choles Billy because
Speaker 1: I thought it was you know, I thought it was
Speaker 1: the best hit for me. Like I just I liked
Speaker 1: the guys here. You know, UM like the way they
Speaker 1: do things around here. You know, I like the way
Speaker 1: they play ball, So you know, I feel like this
Speaker 1: is the perfect kit for me. Well, Garrett Blunt running back.
Speaker 1: The major factor in me choosing to sign here in
Speaker 1: Philly was, you know, I like the direction the team
Speaker 1: is headed. You know, they got a great quarterback, they
Speaker 1: got a good defense, We got some special things going
Speaker 1: on here, so you know, I just definitely wanted to
Speaker 1: be a part of it. So he's gonna lean the
Speaker 1: back and so you're trying to make a jump cut
Speaker 1: or a cut going full speed. Everybody listening. It's awesome
Speaker 1: working with Deuce man. I've been a fan of this
Speaker 1: for a long time, and it's an honor to be
Speaker 1: able to have a chance to work with him, and
Speaker 1: you can get his input from a player and a
Speaker 1: coach's perspective. I appreciate him. I'm going back to get
Speaker 1: me here. Something that I could share with the young
Speaker 1: guys that can help them in their journey is just
Speaker 1: my experience. It takes a lot to be good in
Speaker 1: this league. Knowing the things that you have to do
Speaker 1: to prepare yourself for a game and just looking up
Speaker 1: the players like Darren. You know someone who's played for
Speaker 1: as long as he's played. Take parts of his routine
Speaker 1: and build your own, and you'll be pretty successful. When
Speaker 1: you get tired, man, you gotta pick your legs up.
Speaker 1: You're just tired. Something I would like to focus one,
Speaker 1: just continue to learn to playbook. Make sure I get
Speaker 1: down all my assignments and everything that I need to
Speaker 1: go to the training camp and be competitive. I want
Speaker 1: to make sure that I can go in there and
Speaker 1: compete at a high level, not having to worry about
Speaker 1: making mistakes personally. I would just like to bring you know,
Speaker 1: hard nose downhill running. I get worked up off of
Speaker 1: you know, running people over making big plays, and they
Speaker 1: can energize the defense. If you energize the offense, it's
Speaker 1: a momentum builder, you know. So we got a lot
Speaker 1: of guys over there that can make plays, and I
Speaker 1: just wanted to contribute to that. You missed out quite
Speaker 1: a fun time if you weren't at Sunday's open practice.
Speaker 1: You probably also disappointed the kids who want to go.
Speaker 1: Shame on you for that. At the very least, you
Speaker 1: can check out these highlights. After the break, He's found
Speaker 1: the end zone over seventeen times. Today he's a professional
Speaker 1: football watcher because he has NFL Red Zone from NFL
Speaker 1: Network on xpinity to come up for a fan only
Speaker 1: with xpnity, don't wait click today. It's growing up. I
Speaker 1: used to watch those old whoop of reels of players
Speaker 1: falling over themselves and getting into all kinds of funny
Speaker 1: situations on the field. Since it was kids Day at
Speaker 1: the Link on Sunday, we decided to take a different
Speaker 1: approach to the highlights package. Let us know what you
Speaker 1: think they'll do it for this edition of Inside Training
Speaker 1: Camp presented by Expanity. On Wednesday, the eve of the
Speaker 1: first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, Wolf exclusive
Speaker 1: access with defensive backs coach Corey Ulin, who's getting a
Speaker 1: young group of cornerbacks ready for the upcoming seasons, so
Speaker 1: you will not want to miss that. I'm Chris McPherson.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for joining us, and have a
Speaker 1: great Eagles Deck.