The NFL has mounted a forceful defense of how Jalen Hurts’ medical situation was handled after the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was ruled out for the remainder of the season because of multiple blood clots in his lungs.
Hurts initially developed blood clots after a cleat struck his calf during Philadelphia’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. Despite the diagnosis, he went on to play the following week against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
According to reports, Hurts took to the field having barely slept after staying in the hospital until 4am the night before the game. After flying back to the US, the quarterback was placed on injured reserve and missed this weekend’s loss to the Carolina Panthers.
A statement released Monday revealed the seriousness of the condition. It said Hurts ‘was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis’ before further testing and monitoring determined that he had ‘a deep vein thrombosis, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli.’
The disclosure triggered fierce criticism of the Eagles’ medical staff. One expert told Our News Outlet: ‘The fact they let him play in the game is the craziest decision that I can fathom… there has to be a fall guy, probably, multiple fall guys… this is reckless on a catastrophic level.’
However, senior NFL officials have rejected what they called ‘nonsense’ surrounding Hurts’ injury, arguing that the case had prompted ‘considerable and uninformed speculation.’
The Philadelphia Eagles have faced intense scrutiny after it emerged that star quarterback Jalen Hurts will miss the rest of the NFL season
Dr Allen Sills (L) and Jeff Miller (R) offered a strong defense of the way Hurts’ medical treatment was managed
Nick Sirianni addressed the controversy during an impassioned media conference on Monday afternoon
‘The notion that there are external factors or that any of our physicians would put a player in harm´s way – that’s nonsense,’ said Dr Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer.
‘[Everyone] acted at every moment with the patient’s best interests at heart, regardless of their identity. That’s really the most important thing.’
Sills said he had ‘complete confidence’ in the Eagles’ medical team and praised its response as ‘very conservative, very patient-focused and appropriately guarded at every step’ during the league’s annual fall meeting.
‘I don’t think you can take that outcome and say there was something flawed about the process. Sometimes in medicine, we do all the right things and diseases progress and other things develop.’
He continued: ‘In this case, everyone was incredibly conservative and incredibly vigilant and was very quick to make diagnoses of these conditions that might not have been diagnosed in a nonathlete… there was incredible vigilance, there was conservative care, state-of-the-art imaging that was done in London.
‘And, as far as the timing and the decision-making, I have great confidence in that and believe that everyone acted with an abundance of caution.’
Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president responsible for player health and safety, also backed the Eagles’ handling of the situation.
‘Jalen Hurts’ health was always made the first priority,’ Miller said. ‘There was considerable and uninformed speculation yesterday in the reporting.
‘I understand that all the facts are now publicly available [and] have been reported widely regarding the conservative steps that were taken to ensure Jalen Hurts’ health was always made the first priority and continues to be.’
Doctors found multiple blood clots in the lungs of the Eagles’ star quarterback
As criticism intensified Tuesday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni also defended the team’s medical personnel, saying he had ‘full trust and full faith in them.’
‘The health of our players are as always at the forefront of our mind and I leave that up to the medical experts,’ Sirianni said. ‘But we always, always care deeply about our players.’
Hurts’ treatment moving forward involves blood thinners, and he will not be allowed to participate in any football activities until he is off them.
The Eagles posted a lengthy update on the quarterback’s condition on Monday, in which they revealed ‘he is clinically stable and has no significant functional limitations.
‘Jalen’s prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery,’ it read. ‘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.’
