Jalen Hurts’ blood clot situation could put the Eagles in hot water

The Eagles are in freefall after a bad start to the year turned into disaster. Philadelphia dropped its fifth straight game on Monday night to the Cowboys, and now the NFL could be turning its attention to the team for how it handled Jalen Hurts.

Hurts was ruled out for the Eagles’ game against the Panthers due to blood clots that had traveled to his lungs, ending his season. Questions are swirling not only over how the Eagles handled the Hurts injury, but the timetable of their actions regarding his health. A new report from the Philadelphia Inquirer says that a well-connected source inside the NFL said the league is “furious” with the Eagles over how they have handled the Hurts situation. The shield is in the optics business, and when one of the league’s most well-known players is mishandled, especially when it comes to player health, they’re going to be angry with anyone involved in the situation.

An NFL/NFLPA joint investigation is currently ongoing into the Eagles’ conduct, which will try to determine what role, if any, the organization had in either exacerbating Hurts’ injury, leading to the end of his season, or if they knowingly misled the league on the severity of Hurts’ injury. Today we dive into what makes this whole situation tick, and establish a timeline of what went on with Jalen Hurts.

The Eagles lose to the Rams 24-20. Jalen Hurts was cleated in the calf at some point during the game, which is when a player (teammate or opponent) steps or stomps with their cleats. There is no indication he made medical staff aware of the injury either when it occurred, or immediately following the game.

Hurts resumes his typical training and practice protocol. The Eagles claim that Hurts again did not make them aware of any injury.

Jalen Hurts tells the team medical staff that he is having discomfort in his calf. He continues to practice throughout the session. For the first time he is added to the team injury report, which shows him practicing Wednesday, Thursday, and then listed as a “Full Participant” for Friday. His game status is noted as “Unspecified.”

The Eagles leave Philadelphia to fly to London for their game against the Jaguars. Hurts is on the flight, and all indications are that he will play. After landing, the team sends Hurts to receive imaging, with an ultrasound showing “small superficial blood clots” in the calf he was experiencing pain in.

Hurts is admitted to the hospital for monitoring, where he stays overnight — but is told not to sleep, which could increase the risk of the clots becoming more serious. Doctors review the ultrasound and reportedly clear Hurts to play in the London game on Sunday — citing that movement would be beneficial in clearing up the problem.

Hurts leads the Eagles to a loss against the Jaguars in their Week 5 game. After the game he calls the experience “very unique,” and returns to Philadelphia via plane once more.

Follow-up imaging reveals that the blood clots in Hurts’ calf have moved, and the Eagles announce that he will miss Week 6 against the Carolina Panthers. The team says it is monitoring the situation to assess proper treatment.

Hurts undergoes further testing, which shows that the clots that were previously in Hurts’ calf have now migrated to his lungs. He is now diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and bilateral pulmonary emboli — which will be treated with blood thinning medication. Hurts is ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 NFL season.

The NFLPA calls for a full investigation into the Eagles’ handling of Hurts during this diagnosis after learning the NFL has no plans to investigate the Eagles. Two things are important:

The NFL defends the Eagles’ handling of Jalen Hurts’ injury, saying that “all protocols were followed.” Dr. Allan Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, says that there are numerous cases of blood clots that happen each year in the NFL, and that the league tracks these.

This statement raises questions. If the league tracks blood clots, and numerous cases occur each year — then logically teams should be aware of the warning signs and risk factors that could lead to clots in players. This would include Hurts complaining of calf soreness four days after being cleated against the Rams. However, it doesn’t appear that the Eagles made any attempts to diagnose his issue until after the team landed in London.

More concerning is that long flights, like the transatlantic trip to the U.K. are known to both create and exacerbate blood clots, with risk of DVT being developed in some individuals.

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports that the NFL and the NFLPA will launch a joint investigation into how the Eagles handled Jalen Hurts’ injury.

The investigation into the Eagles is centered both on how Hurts was treated in the entire leadup to his season-ending injury, but also the role of internal medical teams having ultimate power over a player’s health. There has always been a handshake agreement between the league, union, and teams that they will have the best interests of players at heart — which is supposed to be self-regulating, due to the money players earn on their contracts and their importance to teams.

This situation with the Eagles muddies the water. The team was in a desperate spot and needed Hurts to play due to their dicey depth at quarterback, and the turnaround into a London game might have specifically worsened Hurts’ condition. There is no timeline at the moment for when the joint investigation will be completed, but the result could lead to penalties against the Eagles and/or adjustments to medical guidelines around the NFL.