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Jaguars' Marrone: DeFilippo hire had 'zero' to do with pursuing Foles

Hannah Foslien / Getty Images Sport / Getty

A number of pundits connected Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles to the Jacksonville Jaguars immediately after Jacksonville hired John DeFilippo - Foles' quarterbacks coach in 2017 - as offensive coordinator on Wednesday.

However, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone insisted that bringing in DeFilippo had nothing to do with any connection to the former Super Bowl MVP.

"Zero. Zero at all. I mean zero," Marrone said, according to NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "Don't get me wrong, everyone we brought in we tried to get information from ... but (the hire) didn't have anything to do with (DeFilippo's relationship with Foles)."

However, Marrone did note that DeFilippo's worked with a number of successful NFL quarterbacks, including Foles, Carson Wentz, Kirk Cousins, and Derek Carr.

"What did come into play is someone that has ability, has been around veteran quarterbacks, has been around rookie quarterbacks, has been around a quarterback that came up and went on to do things well," Marrone said of the choice to hire DeFilippo.

Foles is expected to be available - and in demand - this offseason, with his $20-million mutual option looming and the Eagles publicly committed to Wentz as their starting quarterback.

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