By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) – The Philadelphia Eagles handled Jalen Hurts’ medical condition appropriately, an NFL spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday, after the quarterback was sidelined indefinitely due to blood clots in his lungs.
Hurts was diagnosed with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis prior to playing in an October 11 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. After further testing and monitoring, he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and a bilateral pulmonary embolism, the team said on Monday.
The NFL had stayed in close contact with the team, the spokesperson said, and found that the Eagles had handled the matter appropriately, after a day of outcry from many pundits and fans, who questioned why Hurts was allowed to play at all in the London game.
The 2025 Super Bowl MVP is clinically stable as he undergoes treatment with blood thinners, but he is expected to be out for the season. A bilateral pulmonary embolism is a dangerous condition in which a blood clot blocks an artery in both lungs.
The NFL was in contact with Eagles medical personnel and the Cleveland Clinic in London, where Hurts was tested. The league’s chief medical officer arranges medical resources in every international market with approval from the players’ union, the spokesperson added.
NFL owners gathered in New York on Tuesday for their fall meeting amid an ambitious international slate of games this season, with a record nine contests abroad.
League officials were critical of early media reports and speculation surrounding Hurts’ condition, telling reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that doctors caring for players are not ever influenced by coaches, general managers or team owners.
“If you’re not sitting in that room with that patient and you don’t have all the data, if you are speculating as a physician on what should have been done, you are unprofessional and unethical in doing that,” said NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills.
Sills said there was no set league protocol for blood clots, as there is with concussions.
“I have complete confidence in the Eagles staff and their handling of this situation,” he added. “I would characterize their work as very conservative, very patient, focused and appropriately guarded at every step.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)
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