Monday, October 19, 2026
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Following today's news that Jalen Hurts is set to miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with both deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni met with reporters for what many expected would be an explanation of the process that led to this point.
Ultimately, that didn't happen.
Until now, information has been murky. Hurts reportedly suffered a calf injury in Week 4 after being 'cleated'. After receiving treatment for his injury, Hurts flew to London with the team for their Week 5 clash with the Jaguars. After arriving in England and completing a walkthrough, an ultrasound revealed the superficial blood clot.
What happened next is unknown. One report said he was instructed not to sleep as it was a risk, while others have said he was able to get some sleep, but came out of the tunnel a little later than his teammates. Either way, he proceeded to play a full game despite the ailment.
He then flew back to Philadelphia with the team, where the following day, Monday, Oct. 12, he received more treatment. Fast forward to Oct. 15 and the Eagles released their first real statement on the ordeal, ruling him out against the Panthers with what was then a superficial blood clot.
After being placed on IR and missing Sunday's game, Hurts' agent, Nicole Lynn, posted a statement with the Eagles clarifying his condition — both deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli. The statement mentioned that Hurts is clinically stable and will take blood thinners. But while undergoing treatment, he has to refrain from contact activities, so his timeline to return is unknown.
A bilateral pulmonary emboli is when blood clots in your leg travel through your bloodstream and into your lungs.
Nick Sirianni met with reporters on Monday afternoon and was understandably barraged with questions, including a testy exchange with longtime beat reporter Jeff McLane. Ultimately, Sirianni was unable to provide any additional context other than reiterating what had already been released in the PR statements.
"The health of our players is always at the forefront of our mind," Sirianni replied when asked why Hurts was allowed to play against the Jaguars. "We leave that up to the medical experts but we always, always care deeply about our players. When you're completely focused on together and connection, you're always focused on the well-being of your guys. That's where we were in that situation."
Ultimately, a response that does nothing to address the question and just emphasizes a team viewpoint on how they value the health of their players — which is a little ironic given how this has all panned out.
When he was next asked whether he'd have done anything differently given his care for the players, Sirianni responded with another cookie-cutter statement.
'I'm not a medical expert; I lean on our guys in all those situations. I'm a football coach...
... I have full trust and full faith in them. It's not just me that has major care for our players; it's them as well. I'm proud to be part of an organization that cares about the guys the way our guys do."
The frustration exuded by McLane and fans all over social media is palpable. The first name people will turn to with something like this is the head coach, and for Sirianni to be thrown to the Lions to field questions is one thing, but to do so without either being given the freedom to answer, or having the confidence to talk about the issue without highlighting more concerns, is worrying.
The Eagles have enough problems on the field and you only get one real moment to handle something like this before it takes a life of its own... which is exactly what's happened. This will not be the last we hear of this situation. But if we are to take Nick's words at face value, it's almost unfathomable that things have played out in a way where the well-being of Jalen Hurts was in jeopardy, given how much of a priority said well-being is said to be.
This is something much bigger than football and the Eagles should really have had the grace to allow their head coach to answer questions more openly, or at least provide missing gaps in context in order to prevent those sensationalist headlines and reports from being spun into things much larger than the situation is. All they've really done by throwing Sirianni to the dogs is the opposite.
All that really matters is that Hurts makes a full recovery, but it's so hard to imagine a world where your franchise quarterback, a former Super Bowl MVP, and arguably the best signal-caller Philadelphia has ever had, ends up in a situation like this. It's even more inconceivable to consider that world exists, and his head coach can't, for whatever reason, explain the decisions made that led to this.
If the public doesn't deserve an explanation, the one man who does is Jalen Hurts. Hopefully, he's at least given that as he battles through the next few months away from the game he loves, for something that potentially could've been prevented altogether. And if it couldn't, the Eagles should've been open about that. The more they play defense, the worse it ultimately reflects on them as they now navigate a regular season with a 4-game losing streak, no franchise quarterback, and plenty of questions that are bound to be asked both internally and externally over the coming weeks.
MORE: Is Nick Sirianni running out of time with the Eagles
