The Philadelphia Eagles were in bad shape toward the end of the 2023 season and quarterback Jalen Hurts went to what might feel like desperate measures to figure out how he could turn things around.
After the Eagles went 10-1, they lost five of their final six matchups, though they were in a spot to turn things around after making the playoffs.
And that's when Hurts went outside of the organization seeking advice.
According to ESPN's Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler , Hurts reached out to former New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale to pick his brain before taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC East Wild Card Round.
"I've been doing this for 40 years," Martindale told ESPN, "and it's the first time I've had an opposing quarterback call me up. I thought it was pretty cool that the guy called. It shows you what kind of pro he really is. He's just looking at every angle that he can do to get better."
Martindale mentioned that he and Hurts spoke for about 30 minutes, dicussing how the Giants game-planned against him and how the Eagles could do better in pass protection.
"It was very effective and he knew it, and he just wanted to know why we did certain things that we did. Then he went to work on that," Martindale said.
Hurts took what he could with Martindale's advice, but it didn't get him very far as the Eagles fell embarrassingly 32-9 to the Buccaneers .
Martindale pointed out that the Eagles' biggest issue last fall was their lack of commitment to the run game that ultimately sent them south.
"They weren't committed to the run," Martindale said. "They weren't committed to the quarterback runs. They were trying to throw the ball a little bit too much on early downs, which put them behind the sticks. That's when defenses can go to work"
Hurts doing everything he can as the quarterback of the Eagles shows how good of a leader he is and just how badly he wanted a better ending to 2023 -- even if it meant reaching out to the enemy.
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