Though the 2026 NFL season is still young, one of the year's defining storylines has been Jalen Hurts' blood clots, which rapidly evolved from a Week 4 cleating against the Rams to a season-ending injury with life-threatening implications before Week 6.

While the Eagles have been absolutely thrashed for the way Hurts' health was handled, the NFL will not punish the team any further, and even went out of their way to defend Philadelphia for how they treated QB1.

Releasing a statement on Tuesday about Hurts' treatment, the NFL assured fans that their Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Sills, was responsible for “arranging medical resources” for international market games.

“The league had been in contact throughout the process with the Eagles medical personnel, and the Cleveland Clinic in London where the tests were conducted,” The NFL said via NBC's John Clark. “The league’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills arranges for medical resources with leading providers in every international market with approval from the NFL Players Association.”

Speaking of Sills, he held a press conference on Tuesday to share his side of the story, with NFL Network's Mike Garafolo passing along his “tremendous confidence” in Philly's medical staff despite outside criticism.

“NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills: ‘I have tremendous confidence in the Philadelphia Eagles’ medical staff and all our medical staffs.' Says no medical decisions regarding players are affected by the football side. ‘That’s nonsense,” Garafolo wrote.

“Sills asked about superficial blood clots. Says they’re not a novel condition and notes the league tracks the data on blood clots and shares it with the NFLPA. Didn’t directly say players are always cleared to play with a superficial blood clot, as each case has extenuating conditions. As for flying, Sills notes part of the protocol after games is determining whether any players have medical conditions that would require them to stay at the site of the game. Sills stated off the top he wouldn’t be commenting on Jalen Hurts’ situation specifically, as there are patient-privacy concerns.”

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NFL EVP Jeff Miller also commented on the process surrounding Hurts, noting that much of the criticism surrounding the Eagles' medical team is “unfounded.”

“NFL EVP Jeff Miller notes there was ‘considerable and uninformed speculation yesterday in the reporting' on Jalen Hurts. Notes there was ‘unfounded criticism' of the Eagles’ team physicians,” Garafolo shared.

Will the Eagles rightfully continue to be criticized for how Hurts' season came to an end, especially if Tanner McKee can't string together a series of wins in a wide-open NFC East? Absolutely, and no matter how many times the NFL tries to clarify the situation, that is unlikely to change.