Lions sign Zach Ertz ahead of NFC Championship game after Brock Wright injury
The Lions are adding some championship experience as they sit one win away from their first Super Bowl appearance.
Detroit is signing veteran tight end Zach Ertz to their practice squad on Monday, according to multiple reports, after Brock Wright suffered a forearm injury during Sunday’s playoff win over the Buccaneers.
Wright is not expected to be available for Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the 49ers in San Francisco.
Ertz, 33, suffered a quad injury earlier this season with the Cardinals, who released him in November.
The three-time Pro Bowler, who was part of the Eagles team that won the Super Bowl six years ago, played for Lions tight ends coach Steve Heiden the previous two seasons in Arizona.
The Lions’ Pro Bowl rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, a second-round pick (No. 34 overall), has been dealing with a knee issue but caught nine passes for 65 yards Sunday against Tampa Bay.
Ertz spent the first eight-plus seasons of his career with the Eagles, who traded him to the Cardinals in the middle of the 2021 season.
He had a five-year run from 2015-19 where he had at least 816 yards receiving in each season.
Ertz’s best year came in 2018, when he had 116 catches for 1,162 yards and eight touchdowns.
That came after he caught seven passes for 67 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl LII victory over the Patriots to cap the previous season.
Ertz had 187 yards and one touchdown in seven games this season before he was cut by the Cardinals.
