EAGLES NOTEBOOK: A Visit with the Assistant Coaches

Zach Ertz celebrated his 30th birthday on Tuesday.

The Eagles’ tight end did so while rehabbing an ankle injury that has him on Injured Reserve, with the hope of returning for the team’s visit to Cleveland to play the Browns on Nov. 22.

It may be the final time one of the best players in team history blows out his candles as a member of the Eagles.

The expectation for Ertz coming into the season was that he would surpass Hall of Fame WR Harold Carmichael and become the organization’s leader in receptions.

Carmichael had 589 in 13 years with the Eagles; Ertz will return at some point this season with 549.

Catching 41 passes over the final seven games, assuming Ertz comes back against the Browns, isn’t out of the question for a player who owns the NFL record for catches in a season by a tight end with 116, but the season hasn’t shaped up the way Ertz or anyone around the team has envisioned.

“You know, I think it’s just he had a rough couple of games before the injury,” said Eagles TE coach Justin Peelle on Tuesday. “All the great ones are going to go through a stretch like that. I know last year he had a couple games where the production wasn’t quite what he wanted it to be. Not really concerned. Once he gets healthy and gets back out there, I’m sure he’ll be OK.”

It's really been a season-long funk for Ertz, with just 24 receptions for 178 yards and one TD in six games. After six games last year, he had 33 catches for 366 yards and one score.

ROOKIE COMMENTARY

Linebackers coach Ken Flajole and safeties coach Tim Hauck were asked about the progress of their rookies after half a season.

Of K’Von Wallace, Hauck said: “He’s a big, physical guy. He’s played a lot of football at Clemson. Again, the whole COVID thing and not being here in the offseason probably hurt him. He is better when he’s on the field and getting reps, as most of us are, and that helps him progress.

“I think these reps that he got, especially in the 49er game have helped him progress. He continues to get better and better every single day, and right now, he is our backup strong safety, and we continue to push him, and he continues to learn. He’s obviously going to be part of what we do here in the future.”

Flajole is working with Davion Taylor and Shaun Bradley.

Of Taylor, Flajole said: “He’s made great strides since he’s come to us. … I really like the trend that he’s on right now. It’s just really the experience the factor for him right now. He continues to grow. He is obviously done a nice job and he will continue to get some live reps in games as we continue to go along, but I think early it was just getting him more game experience and more experience in our particular scheme.”

Bradley has gotten more playing time than Taylor at this point and has worked his way into the team’s goal line defensive package.

“The thing I’ve liked about Shaun is Shaun I think has natural instincts for playing linebacker,” said Flajole. “Him, like Davion Taylor, I think they’ve ascended well, I think they’re both getting better, but I’ve been impressed with Shaun’s instincts. He finds a lot of times kind of a way to slither to the ball through blockers and he’s done a nice job for us in the role we’ve had him in to date.”

ThAT CFL EXPERIENCE

Flajole was asked why it took so long for Alex Singleton to earn some playing time on defense, which Singleton did when T.J. Edwards got hurt last month and went on IR.

Since then, Singleton has looked like he belongs in the rotation.

“We’ve always had Alex in high regard,” said Flajole. “It can be hard to ascend through the depth early because we have some veteran guys who have been with us before, but the thing I like about Alex is he comes in and he’s a little bit of an old school linebacker in that I think he really gravitates toward the physical part of the game. He’s been very active and productive for us in the run game, so I like his touch of physicality that he brings us.

“He’s played a lot even though a lot of his snaps have been up in the CFL, he’s played a lot of competitive snaps of football and it shows. He’s one of those guys I think that can play with some high-speed internet and he’s able to unwind some problems before they occur.”

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