The story of Jalen Hurts’s injury status was one of the oddest storylines of Week 6 of the NFL season.
According to a timeline released by the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, an ultrasound the day before the team’s game against the Jaguars in London two weeks ago revealed a “superficial blood clot” Hurts played the London game “without limitation,” but a follow-up examination last Wednesday night revealed that the clot had moved and that he would be out indefinitely starting with the Week 6 contest against the Carolina Panthers.
By Monday, the team announced that Hurts would be missing the rest of the season after his diagnosis changed to deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, raising plenty more questions about the entire timeline and the Eagles’ understanding of the situation throughout.
But in between the initial report that Hurts would miss Sunday’s game and the follow-ups that revealed he’s done for the year, there were a lot of takes out there, most notably from Michael Robinson on NFL Network. Robinson, a former fullback who played eight years in the league with the 49ers and Seahawks, suggested that the team was looking to pin a failed season on Hurts’s shoulders, and Hurts in turn was simply refusing to take the field.
“This is just me outside looking in,” Robinson said on NFL GameDay Kickoff. “I don’t know nothing, guys. But it looked like they were trying to pin the outcome of this season on Jalen Hurts, just so that they can have an excuse later on to move on from Jalen Hurts.”
“If I’m Jalen Hurts, or anybody in Jalen Hurts’ camp, I’m saying, ‘Well if everybody’s hurt, I’m hurt, too,'” Robinson said. “Guys, I’ve been cleated before. And I’m not saying a superficial blood clot isn’t serious. I’m not saying that, but I would advise all of our viewers to Google ‘superficial blood clot’ as opposed to a real blood clot. And again, I’m not a medical guy.”
Robinson immediately came under criticism for his comments, and those criticisms redoubled after the extent of Hurts’s injury was revealed on Monday. By Monday evening, Robinson had issued an apology.
“I want to sincerely apologize to Jalen Hurts, his family, the Philadelphia Eagles organization and fan base for my comments last Thursday. They were unfounded and I never should’ve speculated on a health issue of a player nor his commitment to his team.”
My official apology to @JalenHurts @Eagles and the entire fanbase. My comments were wrong. No excuse. https://t.co/fhHW2VFT39
— Michael Robinson (@RealMikeRob) October 20, 2026
First, good on Robinson for offering a real apology. After the awkward non-apology that Stephen A. Smith initially offered fellow Eagle Lane Johnson after criticizing his surprise mid-season retirement a few weeks ago, Robinson comes through as extremely genuine. We would rather there be no need for apologies, but if you’re going to give them, make them count.
Beyond that, Robinson was far from the only one with a questionable take on Hurts’s injury. NFL insider Tom Pelissero framed Hurts playing through the injury as proof that he was a capital FG Football Guy, rather than viewing it as a franchise mishandling the health of one of its stars in a way that was potentially dangerous.
Mike Florio was more tempered and did express concern for Hurts’s health, but framed his comments on the matter around the NFL having inside information that was unavailable to people potentially betting on the game, which while a valid concern, is just a different conversation.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, already under scrutiny for the nature of his insider reporting, said Saturday morning that the Eagles were not planning to put Hurts on IR, and then eight hours later reported that actually yes, the Eagles would be putting him on IR.
Through it all, questions remain. Who knew what when? What of that information was offered to the public and for what reasons was it offered? There are a lot of things to speculate about, but when it comes to commenting on the health status of a player as information is coming out in real time, it’s usually best to play it safe.
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