As another full Sunday of football approaches, there’s a new development in the situation regarding Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who is likely out for the rest of the year after a “superficial” blood clot became a deep vein thrombosis and blood clots in each lung.
“The NFL and NFL Players Association are working together to review the matter,” the league and the union said in a joint statement.
This implies that the NFLPA, as mentioned earlier today, has not yet officially exercised its unilateral right to conduct an investigation under Article 39, Section 5(f) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Still, some sort of an investigation is inevitable.
And while it’s always good for management and labor to work through potential rough spots together, the NFLPA risks the perception of complicity with the NFL’s apparent effort (as punctuated by a quick endorsement of the care provided to Hurts and a strident dismissal of any scrutiny of the matter by chief medical officer Allen Sills) to brush the situation under the rug.
There are too many unanswered questions, too many possible explanations that point to someone making a serious mistake in diagnosing the initial blood clot in Hurts’s leg promptly, in allowing him to fly to London with a blood clot in his leg, in allowing him to play two Sundays ago with a blood clot in his leg, and in allowing him to fly back from London with a blood clot in his leg.
Many want answers. Many want the truth. The overriding question is whether the NFL can ultimately handle the truth.