Jalen Hurts appears to be out for the season with blood clots in his lungs. His injury raises tough questions for the Eagles

At just 28 years old, and only 20 months removed from being named the Super Bowl MVP , Jalen Hurts is now on blood thinners to stave off what – without them – could be life-threatening blood clots in his lungs.

The Associated Press and others are reporting that the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback won’t play again this season, which would appear an obvious outcome since treatment for Hurts’ injuries – bilateral pulmonary emboli and deep vein thrombosis in medical jargon – requires three months on the blood thinners.

That much everyone can agree on. It is everything in between that makes the situation less cut-and-dry.

The Eagles, in conjunction with Hurts’ agent Nicole Lynn, have released two statements in the past four days detailing Hurts’ injury and treatment, citing the “interest of transparency.”

C. Nathan Cohron/Tremont Photography

Philadelphia Eagles fans flock to the bar that brings the City of Brotherly Love to London

The timeline breaks down like this:

On October 8, four days after the Eagles lost to the Rams, the quarterback told his training staff that he had suffered a calf injury during the game after being kicked in the leg.

He subsequently practiced the next day and then took a transatlantic flight to London for the Eagles’ game against Jacksonville.

Upon landing, he received an ultrasound, revealing a superficial blood clot in his leg. The Eagles released a statement detailing the lead-up to the diagnosis and said that the doctors “concluded that activity and movement were important.”

Though not substantiated by the team but as reported by ESPN, Hurts stayed in the hospital until 4 a.m. after the ultrasound. The Eagles kicked off at 2:30 p.m. local time.

Hurts played in the game against the Jaguars - though Philly.com reporter Jeff McLane said on X that Hurts took the field noticeably later than his teammates and said afterward he needed to “rest.”

After the loss, Hurts flew back with his team to Philadelphia.

After receiving treatment for two days and practicing on Wednesday, October 14, Hurts had another ultrasound, which indicated “small movement” in the blood clot. The Eagles announced on October 15 that he would not play in the Birds’ upcoming game against Carolina.

On October 16, the organization downgraded Hurts’ status, placing him on injured reserve.

On Monday, Lynn and the team shared the statement revealing that the blood clots had traveled from Hurts’ leg to his lungs.

Left unanswered are two critical issues.

For starters, why was Hurts permitted to fly across the Atlantic twice? Along with injury, as in Hurts’ case, deep vein thrombosis can be caused by extended periods sitting on long flights, pulmonary critical care expert Dr. Parth Rali told CNN. The International Air Transport Association guidelines stipulate that “travelers with a recent DVT of the legs may fly once they are asymptomatic and stable on anticoagulants.”

A bigger question, though, is why was Hurts permitted to play in the game at all?

At best, he was coming off a handful of hours of rest after a stressful night in the hospital. At worst, he was competing with a serious medical condition.

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During his normally scheduled Monday news conference, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni did not go into detail about either decision, only repeatedly saying that he trusted his medical team and that “it’s not just me that cares deeply about our players, it’s them as well.”

Sirianni added that this was the same medical team that “helped 21 of 22 guys be available for the Super Bowl.” Asked how Hurts was feeling, the coach said he would keep his private conversations private.

“But I haven’t been without him for an extended period of time,” Sirianni said. “I miss him.”

As Sirianni spoke on a live-streamed interview, the chat box down the right side of the video erupted with unanswered questions. Even before the announcement about Hurts, Sirianni and the Eagles were on a short leash with their notoriously hard-to-please fan base. Philadelphia has lost four games in a row, the team’s worst skid in Sirianni’s six seasons.

Along with the usual “fire Sirianni” suggestions, fans directed their ire at Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman, who did not make themselves available for comment. Some called them cowards; others opted for more colorful language.

Most, however, questioned whether Hurts’ safety had been sacrificed in the name of the sport.

“Super Bowl MVP has been done wrong,” one wrote.

Added another, “Players’ health is at the forefront of our mind? Obviously not.”

Still another simply called the decision “shameful” and wondered who “put his life at risk.”

Deep vein thromboses, while rare, are not entirely uncommon among athletes. In February 2020, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was diagnosed with one in his shoulder, undergoing immediate surgery to prevent it from spreading to his lungs.

Brandon Ingram was shut down with a DVT in his shoulder in 2019 and Serena Williams was hospitalized with multiple pulmonary embolisms in her lungs, the result of a blood clot forming after she cut her foot.

年仅 28 岁，距离被评为超级碗 MVP 仅 20 个月，杰伦·赫茨现在正在服用血液稀释剂，以防止肺部出现危及生命的血栓。

美联社和其他媒体报道称，费城老鹰队四分卫本赛季将不会再上场比赛，这似乎是显而易见的结果，因为治疗赫茨的伤病——用医学术语来说是双侧肺栓塞和深静脉血栓——需要服用三个月的血液稀释剂。

这一点大家都能达成共识。真正让情况变得不那么简单明了的，是介于两者之间的种种因素。

在过去的四天里，老鹰队与赫茨的经纪人妮可·林恩一起发表了两份声明，详细介绍了赫茨的伤情和治疗情况，并援引了“透明度的考量”。

C. Nathan Cohron/Tremont 摄影

费城老鹰队的球迷们涌向这家将“兄弟之城”费城风情带到伦敦的酒吧。

时间线大致如下：

10 月 8 日，也就是老鹰队输给公羊队四天后，这位四分卫告诉他的训练人员，他在比赛中被踢到腿，导致小腿受伤。

随后，他第二天参加了训练，然后搭乘跨大西洋航班前往伦敦，观看老鹰队对阵杰克逊维尔队的比赛。

飞机着陆后，他接受了超声波检查，结果显示腿部有浅表血栓。老鹰队发表声明，详细介绍了诊断过程，并表示医生“认为活动和运动非常重要”。

虽然球队并未证实，但据ESPN报道，赫茨在做完超声波检查后一直待在医院，直到凌晨4点。老鹰队的比赛于当地时间下午2点30分开始。

赫茨参加了对阵美洲虎队的比赛——尽管 Philly.com 记者杰夫·麦克莱恩在 X 频道上表示，赫茨明显比他的队友晚上场，赛后他还表示他需要“休息”。

输球后，赫茨随队飞回了费城。

经过两天的治疗，赫茨于10月14日星期三参加了训练。之后他又做了一次超声波检查，结果显示血栓有“轻微移动”。老鹰队于10月15日宣布，他将不会参加球队接下来对阵卡罗莱纳黑豹队的比赛。

10月16日，该组织降低了赫茨的状态，将其放入伤病储备名单。

周一，林恩和球队发表声明，透露血栓已从赫茨的腿部转移到他的肺部。

还有两个关键问题尚未得到解答。

首先，为什么赫茨被允许两次飞越大西洋？肺部重症监护专家帕斯·拉利医生告诉CNN，除了受伤（就像赫茨的情况一样），长时间乘坐长途飞机也会导致深静脉血栓形成。国际航空运输协会的指导方针规定，“近期患有腿部深静脉血栓的旅客，一旦无症状且服用抗凝药物后病情稳定，即可乘机。”

不过，更重要的问题是，为什么赫茨会被允许参加这场比赛？

往好了说，他刚在医院度过了一个紧张的夜晚，只休息了几个小时。往坏了说，他正在与严重的疾病作斗争。

Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

在周一例行的新闻发布会上，老鹰队主教练尼克·西里亚尼没有详细说明这两个决定，只是反复表示他信任他的医疗团队，并且“不仅仅是我非常关心我们的球员，他们自己也很关心”。

西里亚尼补充说，正是这支医疗团队“帮助22名球员中的21人参加了超级碗”。当被问及赫茨的感受时，教练表示他会将私人谈话保密。

“但我并没有和他长时间分开，”西里亚尼说。“我很想念他。”

在西里亚尼接受直播采访时，视频右侧的聊天框里涌现出大量未解答的问题。甚至在赫茨的消息公布之前，西里亚尼和老鹰队就已经因为球迷们出了名的挑剔而备受煎熬。费城老鹰队已经遭遇四连败，这是西里亚尼执教六个赛季以来球队遭遇的最惨痛的连败。

除了常见的“解雇西里亚尼”的呼声外，球迷们还将矛头指向了老鹰队老板杰弗里·卢里和总经理霍维·罗斯曼，但两人均未对此事发表评论。一些球迷称他们为懦夫，另一些球迷则使用了更为激烈的言辞。

然而，大多数人质疑，为了这项运动，赫茨的安全是否被牺牲了。

“超级碗MVP的评选一直不公平，”一位网友写道。

另一位补充道：“球员的健康是我们最关心的问题吗？显然不是。”

还有人简单地称这一决定“可耻”，并质疑是谁“将他的生命置于危险之中”。

深静脉血栓虽然罕见，但在运动员中并非完全罕见。2020年2月，圣安东尼奥马刺队球星维克托·温巴尼亚马被诊断出肩部患有深静脉血栓，并立即接受了手术以防止血栓扩散到肺部。

2019 年，布兰登·英格拉姆因肩部深静脉血栓而停止比赛；塞雷娜·威廉姆斯因脚部割伤后形成血栓，导致肺部多处肺栓塞，并住院治疗。