The NFL believes that the Eagles followed proper medical procedures in the Jalen Hurts case, a source familiar with the league’s view of the matter told Front Office Sports.
The Eagles are being sharply questioned and criticized by some observers for allowing Hurts to play in a game in London, reportedly with his sleep schedule affected by his medical treatment, after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg, and then travel back to the U.S. afterward.
But the league appears to be backing the team’s medical decision-making process in the case. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, arranges for a qualified medical provider to be available in each market in which the league plays games, according to the source with knowledge of the NFL’s view.
In London, that meant that Hurts was examined and tested at the Cleveland Clinic, the source told FOS at the meeting of the NFL’s team owners that began Tuesday in New York.
The NFL Players Association is involved in that process of making arrangements for players to be treated by qualified medical providers, the source said.
Hurts is expected to be sidelined through at least the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and placed on blood thinners as a treatment.
Hurts has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, according to a statement released Monday by his agent, Nicole Lynn, and the Eagles.
He is “clinically stable and has no significant functional limitations,” Lynn and the team said in their statement, and his treatment “should only involve anticoagulation.”
Hurts will not be permitted to play football while being treated with blood thinners, they said.
“Jalen’s prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery,” Lynn and the Eagles said in their statement Monday. “We anticipate that he will have the opportunity to resume contact football activities when off the blood thinners. In the meantime, he will remain active around the team and continue to condition. More importantly, we anticipate that he will have no long-term effects.
“We are thinking of Jalen and looking forward to a strong recovery.”
The Eagles placed Hurts on the injured reserve list Saturday. He did not play in the team’s loss Sunday to the Panthers in Philadelphia. Hurts did play the previous Sunday during a defeat to the Jaguars in London.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni defended the team’s approach. Sirianni—appearing in front of reporters alone—faced pointed questions both about Hurts playing and flying with the clot, and an initial report that doctors advised Hurts to not sleep before the London game.
“The health of our players is always at the forefront of our mind,” Sirianni said Monday. “And we’ll leave that up to the medical experts. But, you know, we always, always care deeply about our players. … When you are completely focused on together and connection, you’re always thinking about the well-being of your guys. And that’s where we were in that situation.”
Lynn and the Eagles said in Monday’s statement that Hurts “was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis.” His current diagnosis came after “further testing and monitoring,” they said.
There were conflicting reports about how much Hurts slept the night before playing in the game in London.
Two sources told FOS on Tuesday that all Eagles players were given recommendations about sleep during the travel to London as part of the time-change acclimation process.
One of those sources told FOS that the Eagles arrived in London around 10 a.m. local time on the Saturday before the game after leaving the U.S. around 11 p.m. Eastern time the previous night.
Players were told to sleep as much as possible on the plane during the fight to London, according to that source. The Eagles checked into their hotel in London and had a light workout and afternoon walk-through practice that Saturday. According to the source, players were told as a “suggestion” to hold off from sleeping until after Saturday’s team meeting at 8 p.m. local time so they would be able to sleep through the night. The team buses to the stadium for the game departed that Sunday around 10:30 a.m. London time.
Hurts reportedly did not sleep overnight while at the hospital in London but slept after rejoining the Eagles before the game.
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