Why Eagles don't have to rush to put Jalen Hurts on IR amid blood clot issue originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Eagles have been getting horrible news for several weeks in a row. Lane Johnson retired one week, and the next week, Jalen Hurts was revealed to have a serious blood clot.
Now, with the Eagles set to start Tanner McKee for the foreseeable future, the Eagles have a decision to make about Hurts. The question is: will they place Hurts on injured reserve? They haven't yet, and current indications are that they won't before Week 6.
But why aren't the Eagles putting him there if there's concern about an extended absence? Jonathan Jones of The Athletic revealed some insight into why the Eagles can wait to make such a decision with their franchise quarterback.
Why Eagles can wait to place Jalen Hurts on IR, if they do at all amid blood clot issue
"But the Eagles don't necessarily have to make a roster move on Hurts," Jones writes. "... With practice-squad rules and several injuries, Philadelphia could opt to keep Hurts on the active roster through this weekend to buy time and understand the full scope of his prognosis."
Howie Roseman and the Eagles do not need to place Hurts on IR right now. While they have a lot of injury issues overall, the Eagles have roster space to work with and can be patient for at least one more week with Hurts.
Most importantly, buying time to figure out what Hurts' actual diagnosis looks like is the key for the Eagles right now.
It's possible Hurts needs to be out for an extended period of time, in which case, they could place him on IR next week, forcing him to miss through Week 11, after their Week 10 bye.
That would only happen if it's a serious issue for Hurts, but there's also a chance this isn't a long-term problem and is something that could be resolved quickly.
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If they place Hurts on IR, he'd have to miss Weeks 6 through 10, with the bye week tacked onto the end of that stretch. That's a lot of time to miss, so the Eagles will want to be sure he's going to miss at least four weeks before making any such decision.
Besides, waiting a week can also help paint a clearer picture of their future in the NFC East and the playoff hunt as a whole. If they lose in Week 6, drop to 2-4, and the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys win, the calculus for this Eagles team might change.
Philadelphia won't rush Hurts back from this blood clot issue, but if things seem out of reach, they will have all the more reason to place him on IR and essentially punt on the 2026 season.
It's been quite the tumultuous start to the year for the Eagles, and with all of their injury issues, and now this serious Hurts complication, this IR decision could reveal how the rest of the year will go for the Eagles, which helps explain why they'll wait a week.
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