October 22, 2026
I’m going to begin this dispatch with something I have never used before on this blog – a disclaimer. In no way am I suggesting any doctor or sports executive knowingly risked the career, and maybe even the life, of Jalen Hurts.
No, I’m not saying that because I am not a medical expert, nor have I done any independent reporting on the current blood-clot issue that has ended so abruptly the franchise quarterback’s season.
What I can recognize, based on more than a half-century in the media, is a whitewash. I have lost count on how many times the leaders of our major sports have lied in the interest of protecting their brands, or how often sports figures have twisted the facts to extract themselves from a crisis.
One day after the Eagles announced that the blood clot in Hurts’ calf had moved to his lungs, the NFL rolled out its chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, who exonerated the team and even at one point proclaimed that it had used “incredible vigilance.”
Then none other than Roger Goodell chimed in the very next day by saying the league would “welcome” a full investigation.
“I think our protocols were incredibly good there,” the commissioner said. “The protocols were followed.”
First of all, I guess this means the Eagles actually were forthright to the league in explaining what happened before and after that trip to London, unlike that insulting press conference by coach Nick Sirianni on Oct. 19. Hey, maybe the team doctors and trainers even discussed the matter directly with Dr. Sills – which is a far cry from anyone in the NFL showing the same respect to the fans.
Second, I have a bit of expertise in this area of team medicine and NFL players, having done an extensive investigation that led to an award-winning series with Glen Macnow for The Inquirer many years ago. Assuming nothing has changed – it has probably gotten much worse – we learned never to believe anything the teams or their doctors said. Their first commitment was, is and will always be to the won-loss record.
And third, it seems fair to ask how a one-day investigation – from the discovery of the blood clots in Hurts’ lungs to the statement by Dr. Sills – could unearth anything,
One day?
Remember when Goodell suspended Ray Rice for two games after a “thorough investigation” into allegations of domestic abuse? As soon as a video of the assault surfaced, that probe looked a lot more like a clumsy cover-up. Rice never played another game in the NFL.
So, was Dr. Sills’ absolution of the Eagles the end of this story?
Hardly. It is barely the beginning.
To its credit, the NFLPA had the same reaction to the NFL’s ridiculously premature declaration of innocence by demanding, on the very same day as the Dr. Sills statement, that a real investigation be conducted.
“We welcome it,” said Goodell, a master at protecting the brand.
Here’s a word of advice to the NFL players union that it probably doesn’t need: Do the work yourself. The NFL is committed to one thing, and that is making the billionaire owners richer. Despite NFL’s self-serving bluster, the health of the players always runs, at best, a distant second. (See: concussions). The truth will emerge only from an honest and independent look at what happened.
I’ll go back to something I wrote here two days ago. The central question is who cleared Hurts to play every snap of that game against Jacksonville while a blood clot was progressing from being a “superficial thrombophlebitis” to “deep vein thrombosis.”
The greatest fear with a blood clot is that is moves into a vital area – heart, brain, lungs. It’s clear that no one was worried about such a possibility when the Eagles sent Hurts onto the field that day. What we do know now is that the clot indeed was moving. Hurts is lucky to be alive.
The bottom line is, somebody screwed up. There is no logical explanation other than that. A medical person cleared Hurts to play even though the quarterback was – non-medically-speaking – a time bomb. No words of reassurance from a paid NFL employee like Dr. Sills is going to whitewash that simple fact.
And there’s one other obvious indication that somebody’s hiding something. Taking blood thinners does not impede a patient’s ability to talk. Hurts is at the Eagles practice facility every day, as is the media. What happened to Hurts is not just local news, or sports news. It has been in the first segment of the network national news every night this week.
So how about this? How about Jalen Hurts, as straight a shooter as there is in sports, settling back in front of a microphone and giving his account of the health crisis that robbed him of the 2026 season?
Is there one good reason why he has not stepped forward and talked about this epic event in his career?
I can think of only one.
Somebody somewhere would prefer that he not talk.
No, this case is definitely not over.
Other thoughts in a busy week. . . .
- There are two different ways to process the snub of the Eagles by veteran QB Andy Dalton, who signed earlier this week with the Falcons. One is that he’s washed up. He looked that way in the preseason and in the one cameo just before the Eagles released him. The other is that the Sean Mannion offense is so inept, not even a 16-year NFL veteran could figure out how to make it work. Dalton is desperate to play again, but he’d rather be a backup in Atlanta than a starter here. That’s not a good sign.
- It didn’t take long for LeBron James to respond angrily when some fans heckled him during the season opener at Madison Square Garden. They were jabbing him over commuting to Philly in a helicopter. Neither he nor his genius agent and crack marketing people know yet what a big deal this is going to become. And if James reacts so childishly every time the situation comes up, it’s going to be an ugly season here for the superstar.
- I’m sorry if I’m not doing cartwheels over the Sixers’ win against the reigning-champion Knicks. Keeping that lineup on the court all season and through the playoffs is the real challenge here. Joel Embiid’s happiness is the second-most important obstacle. Good luck with both of those things. It’ll take a lot more than one win to get me on the bandwagon this season.
- J. Brown has had a disastrous start in New England, a nightmare punctuated by injuries and dropped passes. It’s obvious the Eagles still need more elite pass-catchers in their moribund offense, but Brown is not that guy anymore. It looks like Howie Roseman did the right thing by trading him when he did. Unfortunately, it may be the only good move the GM has made this year.
- The saddest thing about this week is that, many years ago, we called it Dallas Week. There were actually two – the two Eagles-Cowboys games every season – but the bigger of the two was before the matchup here. The streets of Philly were electric with anticipation. Now, nothing. Both teams stink. The coaches say nothing, The players have one goal: Don’t rock the boat. OK, I’m gonna admit it. I miss Terrell Owens and Michael Irvin and Buddy Ryan. Especially Buddy.