PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles is the latest professional athlete to endure blood clots, joining Victor Wembanyama, Chris Bosh, Damian Lillard and others.
The one-time Super Bowl MVP is expected to miss the rest of the season because of blood clots in his lungs, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the health
matter.
Hurts was placed on injured reserve Saturday, two days after the team revealed he has a blood clot in his calf. The Eagles and Hurts’ agent, Nicole Lynn, released more information on his condition Monday. They said Hurts has deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, meaning a blood clot has traveled to the lungs.
The diagnosis brought new attention to the condition, its risks and treatments, while raising questions about why so many athletes have been diagnosed with blood clots in recent years.
Here are some answers:
DVT, or deep vein thrombosis, is the term for a blood clot that forms in a deep vein, usually in the lower legs. Sometimes it can break off and travel into the lungs, lodging in a blood vessel to block blood flow. That’s called a pulmonary embolism and it can be life-threatening.
Any number of things can cause deep vein thrombosis, ranging from immobility and trauma to family history and dehydration. Symptoms include inexplicable swelling and discoloration or pain, or some combination of those factors, and experts say the worry is the clot traveling through the bloodstream, causing a pulmonary embolism or death.
“When you have a DVT in the leg or the arm, there’s a chance that it will break free, and when it breaks free, it can end up lodged in the lung,” Mary Cushman, a hematologist and professor of medicine at the University of Vermont, has said. “And if it’s large enough, that can kill a person.”
Taking blood thinners is the most common course of action. Sometimes surgery is involved or blood thinners for the long term. Hurts' treatment involves blood thinners, and he will not be allowed to participate in any football activities until he is off them.
Richard Ricciardi, a professor at the George Washington University School of Nursing, said there is no evidence to suggest elite athletes are more predisposed to blood clots than those of comparable ages in the general population.
“I do not believe there are any large-scale studies that compare elite athletes with non-athletes,” Ricciardi said. “Athletes are generally considered low risk for blood clots, but they face a cluster of sport-specific risk factors, so they may have a higher risk than expected for young, fit people.
“High-contact sports theoretically could raise blood clot risk, primarily through collision and trauma-induced blood vessel wall injury,” he added. “But to my knowledge no studies directly quantify how much contact sports increase risk versus noncontact sports.”
The risk for people in their 20s and 30s of developing deep vein thrombosis or a pulmonary embolism is one in 10,000.
One potential reason blood disorders may come to light more often with elite athletes, though, is the amount of medical care they are provided with on a regular basis.
“Frequent long-haul air travel plausibly increases blood clot risk in elite athletes, but to my knowledge no athlete-specific studies have been conducted,” Ricciardi said. “Risk is greatest in flights of eight hours or more. However, the risk per flight remains low in healthy, fit individuals, and risk is concentrated in those with additional health risk factors.”
Here's a look at other athletes who have had blood clots:
His 2024-25 season ended after he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his right shoulder. The 7-foot-4 phenom from France bounced back last season, finishing third in NBA MVP voting and winning the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award as he led the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals.
The nine-time NBA All-Star scored 16 points with the Milwaukee Bucks on March 18, 2025, and about a week later the team said he had deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. Lillard returned for the playoffs and tore his Achilles tendon, an injury that kept him out of the lineup last season in his return to Portland.
A decade earlier, blood clots ended the career of the Basketball Hall of Famer. He was averaging 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 33.5 minutes during the 2015-16 season and had just arrived in Toronto for that year’s All-Star Game when a clot in one of his legs was discovered at the age of 31.
The NBA All-Defensive team player missed the last month of his rookie season two years ago with a blood clot. He was not cleared to play during the first month of his second season while he worked through a medical process with the NBA and the players' union.
The current No. 1 player in women's golf missed four months in 2022 — the year after she won her first major title — because of a blood clot in her left arm that required surgery.
Nearly three years ago, the Carolina Hurricanes goaltender had medical tests that found blood clots. He played for the Hurricanes last season as they won the Stanley Cup and is currently recovering from a knee injury with the Edmonton Oilers.
The right-hander, who has had blood clots, has bounced back from his bouts to pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks, going 10-14 in 29 starts last season.
The New England Patriots defensive tackle was limited to four games during the 2024 season after he had blood clots. He started 15 games last season and has played in five this year with the Patriots.
“I could have lost my life,” Barmore said.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida, and AP Sports Writers Larry Lage in Detroit and Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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