“I think it’s also kind of a microcosm of the general society, the media — that we’re a part of. I certainly played it right now. But any time you have something unusual that happens, most people — from what I can tell — at least on social media, immediately look for who to blame. ‘It must be the Eagles! It must be their fault? How can they put him? Earlier in the week, it was ‘Jalen Hurts, maybe he doesn’t want to play.’
Let me just take you inside this because this is a situation where everybody that I have spoken to, all parties are really on the same page here. Yeah, it was weird going back to last weekend where you got a report that he wasn’t on IR, and then a few hours later he was going on IR. Before that, playing in the game, and then [Thursday] it was announced that he was gone. And then we found out now that the blood clots had spread from what was initially in his calf, to his lungs, which could be a really scary and serious deal. So, the Eagles initially focused more on Jalen Hurts the person and his health than they did the player.
So, let me just give you the timeline of what actually happened once they got to London.
Remember, they fly on Friday. Like most teams, the advice was ‘Hey, once you get to London, stay [awake]. Stay awake all day, it’s the best way to beat jet lag.’ And so guys, all of us who have traveled to Europe, you know you don’t really have sea legs under you but the worst thing you can do is take a nap right away because then you will lose your appetite for the rest of the time. So all the players are going to sleep, they did this kind of last minute. All the players go to bed around 9 or 10 o’clock on Saturday night before Sunday kickoff, which I think is 3:30 London time.
Right about then was this calf issue, stemming from the dismissal of Jalen Hurts the week before, and then on Friday he was on the injury report but he was listed as a full participant. On that Saturday night they began to realize that there might be more to it. So, he ends up going to a clinic that isn’t exactly nearby. Go and get an ultrasound, get these different tests. He was there until 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. By the time he got back to the hotel, they decided it was a superficial blood clot. A shallow bed of blood — and I’m not going to play doctor on any of this — but I’ve asked doctors how you can explain it well and it’s like if you see a bruise, it’s like a deep bruise that doesn’t go away and kind of sits, like that, except for the vein. But it’s not something that’s going to stop you from going out, running, hitting, playing a football game.
So, Jalen Hurts is finally back at the hotel. Everyone is, again, on the same page, in the loop. Hurts fell asleep. Here there was a miscommunication with various people and I take my responsibility to convey accurate information very seriously. Again, there are some things that are not communicated, um, that would be perfect in this situation. He fell asleep. He returned to the hotel together. Now, it’s like in the middle of the morning, all his teammates are getting up and they’re going about their day, he’s sleeping then. Then they put him on the bus, they were going to the stadium next, they reserved a room, so he slept another hour in the stadium.
That, now, if you go back to that, all the videos that came out from the fans in the stands of, like, Jalen Hurts running onto the field … I don’t know if it was after the national anthem or before — like, last minute, he was going to be out there. This is because he goes through this whole process to prepare himself. But it was NOT — and I will reiterate this — it was NOT because they told him ‘don’t sleep.’ There are things you want to do, motion-wise, for the blood clot. But it’s not because they fear it will become something more. That’s just the logistics of the situation.
So, he plays in that game, he plays well, they lose the game in absolutely crazy fashion in the final seconds. But he threw for over 200 yards and a touchdown. You wouldn’t know, I don’t think, except that he didn’t run at all, that he was dealing with something.
They came back [to Philadelphia]Wednesday he practiced again fully, but a follow-up ultrasound was scheduled and that’s when they realized the clot was moving. Then came the announcement that he would not play this week. He went and got more scans. Saturday, they got the info back from another doctor in Boston … and this was after the first report out there that he wasn’t going to IR. Which, it was true at that time they hadn’t talked about IR because they didn’t have all the information yet, they were waiting for it. They got it back, he got what I’m told were some blood clots that came up and are now in his lungs. That’s a very serious deal, because it really gets into the body. At that point, it’s OK, we’re shutting him down, he needs to be on a blood thinner. They consulted a group of different medical experts.
But that’s how the whole thing played out. […] I’ve had a lot of different people, whether it’s other NFL front office people, whether it’s, more importantly, the doctors and athletic trainers – who have reached out to me and asked some follow-up questions about the reporting that’s out there – including from myself – and every … OK, it’s people who currently work in the NFL or have previously worked in the NFL. And everybody said, based on the information that the Eagles have, that we know they have, about this being diagnosed as a superficial blood clot, all of those people have cleared Jalen Hurts to play in the game.
This is not the Eagles putting the football game ahead of his health. It’s not like they’re on an island here and how in the world can they do that. Again, you can Monday morning quarterback this thing all you want. But everyone I talked to said, if it’s the first diagnosis, that’s a safe thing to play a football game.
Jalen Hurts, who you know is barely on the injury report, he’s not missing games, he’s always playing, Sheil, you know it’s got to be — for lack of a better term — a life or death situation for him to shut it down. And that’s why when we get to Wednesday and the clot is moving, the additional tests, and then on Saturday when it’s in his lungs, just then, and I think Jalen Hurts — from a football standpoint, a competitive standpoint — recognizes that we have to take our time here. He took medicine. You cannot play contact sports while you are using blood thinners. And so in all likelihood we’ve seen the last of Jalen Hurts for 2026.
But it’s not the Eagles versus Jalen Hurts, it’s not the Eagles versus the agent. Jalen Hurts. Everyone in this whole process works together. And you saw that even in the joint statement today that, at this point, they’re on the same page.