Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is likely done for the season after lung clots surfaced, and his London start has football's toughness culture under fire.
Jalen Hurts is likely to miss the rest of the NFL season after an ultrasound found blood clots in his lungs. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback is now sidelined, which means he is no longer risking serious complications, or even his life, the way he was when he took the field in Week 5.
The timeline is what has people talking. Hurts reportedly complained of calf pain on 8 October. He travelled to London with the team, and the Eagles say he was given an ultrasound out of an "abundance of caution." That scan found a superficial clot in his calf. Three days later, on 11 October, he started in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The team says its medical staff and the doctors in London agreed that activity and mobility were important. Critics say the safer play was obvious: scan him before the flight, and keep him inactive once the clot turned up. Hurts then practiced throughout the following week, until a follow-up ultrasound revealed the clots in his lungs.
The case has reignited a familiar debate about football's culture of toughness, where playing through pain is treated as a badge of honour. Hurts is expected to recover, but the way this unfolded will keep pushing the league to ask whether player health is truly the priority when the stakes are high.
