During the Philadelphia Eagles’ trip to London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, Jalen Hurts was on an intercontinental flight with a blood clot in his leg. He spent the night in hospital the day before the match and slept fitfully between leaving the hospital early in the morning and kick-off. He then played the game with the blood clot and then took another long flight home. These are basic facts that everyone can agree on.
On Monday morning, the Eagles and Nicole Lynn, Hurts’ agent, released a joint statement that Hurts had been diagnosed with “deep vein thrombosis” or “DVT,” as well as “bilateral pulmonary embolism,” aka blood clots in both lungs. This is obviously a very serious medical problem.
Later in the day, Nick Sirianni held his usual virtual Monday press conference and refused to thoroughly answer questions about whether Hurts should have flown or played in the game, instead repeating that he was not a medical expert and that the team cared a lot about its players. The team has not made any medical staff members or anyone else more qualified than Sirianni available to answer such questions, such as general manager Howie Roseman, who oversees the team’s medical department.
On Tuesday evening, Jonathan Jones of The Athletic reported via an anonymous source that the NFL concluded that the process for Hurts to play in the game “was handled appropriately” and that “the NFL will not punish the Eagles for their handling of the medical process or for Hurts not receiving an injury designation before the game.”
The NFL Players Association then quickly released a statement calling for a “full investigation into what happened.”
Transcribed:
“The NFLPA is not aware of any investigation by the NFL into the medical care provided to Jalen Hurts. In fact, the league has already informed the union that it has no plans to review the care he received. Before drawing any conclusions about how this situation was handled, there must be a full investigation into what happened. Determining the facts is essential to ensuring that players receive the highest level of care and protection at the future.”
The Eagles and NFL are clearly hoping this situation goes away while needing to reveal as little information as possible. It’s also very clear that questions about the Eagles’ injury handling won’t go away.
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