During the Philadelphia Eagles’ trip to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, Jalen Hurts completed an intercontinental flight with a blood clot in his leg. He spent the night in a hospital the night before the game and slept fitfully between being discharged from the hospital in the morning and kickoff. He then played with the blood clot and then took another long flight home. Those are basic facts that everyone can agree on. On Monday morning, the Eagles and Nicole Lynn, Hurts’ agent, issued a joint statement that Hurts has been diagnosed with “deep vein thrombosis,” or “DVT,” as well as “bilateral pulmonary emboli,” also known as blood clots in both lungs. Obviously, this is a very serious medical condition. Later that day, Nick Sirianni held his usual Monday virtual press conference and declined to answer substantive questions about whether Hurts should have flown or played in the game, instead repeating that he is not a medical expert and that the team cares deeply about its players. The team did not make anyone on the medical staff or anyone more qualified than Sirianni available to answer such questions, such as general manager Howie Roseman, who oversees the team’s medical department. On Tuesday night, Jonathan Jones of The Athletic reported through an anonymous source that the NFL concluded that the process to clear 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 not giving Hurts an injury designation before the game.” The NFL Players Association quickly issued a statement calling for a “full investigation into what happened.” Transcribed: “The NFLPA is not aware of any NFL investigation into the medical care provided to Jalen Hurts. In fact, the league previously informed the union that it did not plan to review the care he received. Before drawing conclusions about how this situation was handled, there must be a full investigation into what occurred. Determining the facts is essential to ensuring that players receive the highest level of care and protection in the future.” possible. It’s also very clear that questions about the Eagles’ handling of Hurts aren’t going away. Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports Add Jimmy’s RSS feed to your feed reader
