Jalen Hurts will not play again this season. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback has been diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, a serious condition involving blood clots that have reached his lungs.
The diagnosis is a significant escalation from what doctors first believed was happening. In a joint statement, the Eagles and Hurts’ agent, Nicole Lynn, said Hurts was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a superficial vein thrombosis in his left calf.
“After further testing and monitoring, the current diagnosis is a deep vein thrombosis, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli. He is clinically stable and has no significant functional limitations. His treatment should only involve anticoagulation (i.e., ‘blood thinners’).”
The statement said Hurts will be barred from all contact activity, including football, while on blood thinners.
“During this time, he will not be allowed to participate in any contact activities, including football. Jalen’s prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery. 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.”
A separate ESPN report adds a troubling detail: Hurts reportedly did not sleep the night before the Eagles’ game against the Jaguars in London because doctors warned him that doing so could risk his health.
That detail raises a hard question Eagles fans and taxpayers of trust in the team’s medical staff deserve answered. If Hurts’ condition was serious enough to cost him a night’s sleep on doctors’ orders, why was he cleared to take the field? And if the original superficial vein thrombosis diagnosis was uncertain enough to potentially mask a deeper problem, why wasn’t he held out as a precaution?
The Eagles now face those questions without their starting quarterback for the rest of the season. The blow comes on top of the sudden retirement of future Hall of Fame tackle Lane Johnson, leaving Philadelphia’s season effectively finished and its front office facing scrutiny over how it handled a player’s health.
