Zach Ertz: “It is not Where we Thought we Would be”

It’s official.

Zach Ertz has had enough of the Philadelphia Eagles losing ways over the last two weeks, and admitted at 2-3 he is not happy with where the defensing Super Bowl champs currently sit in the standings.

“It is not where we thought we would be," Ertz said after the Eagles 23-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

While Ertz has gotten off to a tremendous start to the season, with 41 catches in five games, 437 yards and a touchdown.  He seemed to be at a loss when asked if the team was playing with the same urgency in the first half of games as they were in the second half of games.

“It’s tough to say right now without watching the film, but I think we have one touchdown in the first quarter through five games and that’s just unacceptable," Ertz explained. "We pride ourselves on being a dominant offense and a dominant offense is not waiting until you feel good in the third quarter and you know how the defense is going to react. You put your foot on the gas in the beginning of the game, and we have to play better, and that’s the bottom line as an offense. The defense is made to play with a lead, and we have to get it for them.”

While its difficult to put your finger on exactly what the issue is with the Eagles, a franchise that is just eight months removed from a Super Bowl title, Ertz was willing to acknowledge that something is different about this year's team though the first five games of the season.

“I think the level of execution last year was just higher than it is right now," Ertz stated. "That’s the thing too, we can’t keep saying that we’re going to turn on the switch like last year. It’s a different team, a different locker room, different players. You can’t just rinse and repeat in the NFL from one year to the next. Like [Eagles S] Malcom Jenkins said at the beginning of the year, it’s not like boxing where you’re the defending champs, everyone starts 0-0 at the beginning of the year. We just have to play better, that’s the bottom line.”

The defensing champs will look to clean things up on Thursday night on the road in New York against the Giants.