The NFL has launched a blistering defense of the handling of Jalen Hurts after the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was ruled out for the season with multiple blood clots in his lungs.
Hurts was diagnosed with blood clots after taking a cleat to his calf against the Los Angeles Rams. He then played in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars the following week.
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.
On Monday, a statement laid bare the terrifying extent of the issue, revealing that Hurts ‘was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis’ but that ‘after further testing and monitoring, the current diagnosis is a deep vein thrombosis, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli.’
The news sparked furious criticism of the Eagles medical team, with one expert telling the Daily Mail: ‘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.’
But top NFL officials have hit out at the ‘nonsense’ around Hurts’ injury, claiming ‘considerable and uninformed speculation’ was spread about the case.
The Philadelphia Eagles have come under fire after it emerged that superstar quarterback Jalen Hurts will miss the rest of the NFL season
Dr Allen Sills (L) and Jeff Miller (R) launched a passionate defense of the handling of Hurts
On Monday afternoon, Nick Sirianni spoke about the controversy at a fiery media conference
‘The notion that there are external factors or that any of our physicians would put a player in harm´s way – that’s nonsense,’ the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Allen Sills said.
‘[Everyone] acted at every moment with the patient’s best interests at heart, regardless of their identity. That’s really the most important thing.’
He added: ‘I have complete confidence in the Eagles’ medical staff and their handling of this situation, and I would characterize their work as very conservative, very patient-focused and appropriately guarded at every step,’ Sills said at 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 added: ‘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.’
His comments were echoed by Jeff Miller, who serves as the NFL’s executive vice president overseeing player health and safety.
‘Jalen Hurts’ health was always made the first priority,’ he 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.’
Multiple blood clots were discovered in the lungs of the Eagles’ superstar quarterback
Amid the initial backlash on Tuesday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni also defended the team’s medical staff, insisting he has ‘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,’ he 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.’
