NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL staunchly defended the Philadelphia Eagles' handling of quarterback Jalen Hurts’ blood clots on Tuesday, while hours later the players' union called for an investigation of the situation.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Associated Press that the Eagles were not being disciplined for their actions with Hurts. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because conversations between
the league and team were to remain private.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, offered a passionate defense of how the Eagles treated Hurts, following a statement from the league that said officials had been in contact with Philadelphia’s medical personnel and the Cleveland Clinic in London throughout the process.
“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. ...
“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.”
The NFL Players Association in a statement said it was told by the league that a review was not planned.
“Before conclusions are drawn about how this situation was handled, there must be a full investigation into what occurred,” the union said. “Determining the facts is essential to ensuring players receive the highest level of care and protection going forward.”
Hurts is on injured reserve and expected to miss the rest of the season after a blood clot in his left calf traveled to his lungs. The Eagles and agent Nicole Lynn said Monday that Hurts has deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary embolisms.
NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller took issue with “uninformed speculation” in reports Monday that Hurts went more than 30 hours without sleep last weekend before playing.
“Jalen Hurts returned to the hotel, slept for a period of time and went to the stadium,” Miller said, estimating that Hurts slept for around seven or eight hours. “Both talking to the Eagles’ staff and making sure from people on the ground, tracking the case, talking to the independent hospital and doctors involved that we have, I think, a complete understanding of the course of events.”
Sills said the league and the players' union study and track blood clots annually. He declined to go into specifics about Hurts' condition, citing patient privacy, and reiterated multiple times that treating a blood clot involves looking at multiple factors.
Dr. Caron Rockman, a vascular surgeon for roughly 30 years, said based on what she has read, there's no evidence the Eagles acted improperly while dealing with what she called not a textbook issue.
“It’s a judgment call,” said Rockman, who is currently a chair at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey and did not treat Hurts. “I think it’s really a case-by-case basis. In my personal opinion, superficial vein thrombosis is not a (disqualification) to fly.”
Hurts' treatment moving forward involves blood thinners, and he will not be allowed to participate in any football activities until he is off them.
Hurts played in London against Jacksonville on Oct. 11, three days after informing medical staff of the injury after practice. He was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis.
“I think there was incredible vigilance, there was conservative care, state-of-the-art imaging that was done in London,” Sills said. “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.”
Sills in his opening statement that lasted more than five minutes said all decisions are made with medicine over football.
“The notion that there are external factors or that any of our physicians would put a player in harm’s way — that’s nonsense,” Sills said.
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AP Sports Writer David Brandt in Phoenix and AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.
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