Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni’s Monday press conference opened up with several questions regarding the team’s handling of quarterback Jalen Hurts after learning he was dealing with a blood clot in his calf ahead of their Week 5 game against the Jaguars in London.
A report from Tom Pelissero of Netflix on Monday said Hurts was advised by doctors to remain awake for 36 hours ahead of the game as a precaution and Sirianni was asked about the decision to put him on the field if that was the case. Sirianni noted that Pelissero tweaked that report to indicate Hurts got some sleep ahead of the game and said that he relied on the team’s medical professionals to decide what was appropriate.
“I’m not a medical expert,” Sirianni said. “I lean on our guys in all those situations. I’m a football coach. I lean on our medical folks in every situation. I have full trust and full faith in them. It’s not just me who has major care for our players, it’s them as well. We are all there and I’m glad to be part of an organization that cares about our guys the way ours do.”
Hurts was initially diagnosed with a superficial blood clot in his calf, but his agent Nicole Lynn issued a statement on Monday morning saying that the quarterback’s current diagnosis “is a deep vein thrombosis, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli.” Treating those blood clots in the lung will require a course of blood thinners that will keep Hurts out for the rest of the season.
Sirianni was asked why Hurts was allowed to fly home given the initial diagnosis and the blood clot risks associated with airline travel. Sirianni again pointed to the medical advice given by the team’s staff.
“We get medical information from our guys. We always put our players health first and foremost in every situation,” Sirianni said.
Sirianni pushed back at any implication that decisions were made with anything other than Hurts’s health in mind and pointed to the statement that the Eagles released last week regarding Hurts’s condition more than once as questions about the quarterback kept coming. His responses likely failed to satisfy all the questions about how things were handled, but it does not look like the head coach is going to be the one to provide more detailed answers.