Zach Ertz immediately grabbed his knee after a crushing hit sent him flipping to the ground. The Washington Commanders tight end suffered a gruesome ACL tear in Week 14, ending his 13th NFL season prematurely.
Ertz doesn't want that image to be his final NFL snap as he eyes a 14th campaign.
"I don't want it to be the last play that I have," Ertz told . "Even talking to people now, and they do it out of the goodness of their heart, and [they say], 'Man, that injury was tough.' When people think of my career and that last play, I don't want that to be the conversation starter. And so, for me, it's just doing everything I can to get back to my best because I felt like I was playing really good football before I got hurt."
Ertz spent the past two seasons in Washington, catching 50 passes for 504 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games in 2025.
"It hurts my soul," Ertz said of the ACL tear. "I wasn't in pain. It was more like shock. I didn't feel pain when I got hit. I didn't feel pain when I was laying down. I just knew something was wrong."
The savvy veteran can still get open. In a league that is trending more toward two tight end sets, Ertz could play a sizable role when he's finally healthy. The 35-year-old knows he's going to have to prove he's healthy enough to earn a roster spot.
"I'm going in with eyes wide open," he said. "I'm not going in with a lot of expectation. If I was a team I probably wouldn't expect me, based on the injury, based on my age -- 'Hey, this is our Week 1 starter.' But I do think if I can get back to myself that I'm still that same guy."
Four months removed from the ACL tear, it's unlikely any club will rush to ink Ertz yet, but as we get closer to training camp, he should receive some calls from teams looking to add a veteran to the depth chart.
