Eagles' Zach Ertz is putting in the work

Coming off his second NFL campaign, Eagles tight end Zach Ertz has earned his way into a prominent position in Chip Kelly's playbook. 

Kelly knew he liked what he saw in the guy who had little trouble creating mismatches and powering through in short yard situations when his Oregon Ducks faced Stanford in their Pac-12 days.

In 2013, Kelly and Ertz both found themselves Eagles property.

Ertz improved on his rookie outing the following year, gaining 702 yards on 58 receptions, three of which were touchdowns. His catches were the 12th-most by an NFL tight end for the 11th-most yardage. 

His 15 pass receptions in Philadelphia's Week 15 game in Washington were a team-best and the most by any man at his position for a quarter-century.

Clearly, he's established himself as an able go-to receiver when needed, an excellent run after the catch talent who can get chunks of turf with speed and brutality. But that's pretty much all he was used for. 

The tight end position is supposed to be a hybrid between a blocker and a receiver, with Ertz doing relatively little of the former.

And the Eagles are still waiting for him to spread that brutality around to more use.

Chip Kelly saw fit to add Ertz to his lineup on only 50 percent of his plays last season, all in what became passing situations as he split time with veteran end Brent Celek. With the Eagles having been, and seemingly still, a run-first and play-action team, tight end the younger is still looking up at tight end the elder.

"Obviously, the receiving stuff, I don't want to say I'm a lot better than Brent," he said, "but I am better than him and he knows that and we know that. But he's better than me at blocking right now. So I need to get to the point where I'm equal, if not better, than Brent in the blocking game. That's the mentality I've had."

In an effort to make himself better for whatever will come of 2015-16, Ertz found himself this winter and spring in the company of more than a few revered professionals in the sports game. Basically, he just called them up one day and they answered.

"People nowadays, they have issues with getting rejected in society," he said, via Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. "That's a problem. And I'm just, like, I don't freaking care if people say no to me. I reached out and that's all I can do."

When former all-time safety Ronnie Lott approached him this offseason, he asked Ertz what he thought was his biggest weakness.

"I just said consistent blocking," Ertz said. "He said, 'Why don't you hire somebody or reach out to somebody who knows somebody you can work with.' So I reached out."

He hired out private training from former offensive line personnel to get the fundamentals of run and pass blocking down, to cut down his reaction times, to set down his footwork, to use his hands more effectively, to set the edges more efficiently. 

He took private boxing lessons and mixed martial arts training to better his strength and conditioning overall. UFC legend Randy Couture even put Ertz on his back during a voyage to the former's gym.

He visited with Tony Gonzalez in private and instantly volunteered for a workout led by quarterback Mark Sanchez in southern California.

So far, all his efforts have paid off where it counts the most -- his boss noticed.

"A lot of guys do things and try to get with a coach to prepare them for the Combine, but then they forget about that," Kelly said. "Zach is not that type.

"He was traveling all over the country trying to make himself a better blocker, a better receiver, doing all the little teeny things that's going to make him kind of take that next step, and that's what we're excited to see where he goes with that."