Jalen Hurts blood clot news leaves Eagles in a bad situation, and one overlooked detail makes it worse for the offense
Philly’s injury report has never been longer, and the backup quarterback gets two practices to prepare for a 30-point offense.
First things first: I hope Jalen is okay. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is dealing with a blood clot. That matters far more than any football game, and everybody should be pulling for a full and quick recovery. Nobody wants to see a player go through this. Still, the Philadelphia Eagles have to line up against the Carolina Panthers with backup quarterback Tanner McKee, an injury report that needs its own extra page, and a season that feels like it’s slipping away.
I’m not a doctor, and I won’t pretend to be one. But I have questions about how this was handled.
The Jalen Hurts timeline doesn’t add up
My understanding is that the team discovered the blood clot before the game in London and still let Hurts play against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Maybe it wasn’t serious at that point. The real concern came once the clot started to move and get deeper. Fair enough.
But look at the rest of the timeline. Hurts apparently suffered the injury against the Los Angeles Rams, and didn’t report it until the following Friday, when he popped up on the injury report as a limited participant. Then he played through the clot. He took a long flight to London, and flights are not good for blood clots. The follow-up ultrasound didn’t happen until Wednesday, and the announcement didn’t come until Thursday.
How does any of that make sense? It doesn’t.
Dr. Ryan Schreider said he expects a recovery window of 45 days to three months for Hurts. Dr. Jesse Morse posted a breakdown on X and said it all comes down to whether Hurts has to go on blood thinners. Morse pointed to New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, who had a far more severe case last year because the clot reached his lungs. Olave dealt with it in December and didn’t play again for five or six months. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler went through a similar scare last year, too.
So I have to ask: is Jalen Hurts going to play again this season? I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster.
And it gets worse. According to insider Mike Garofalo, Andy Dalton is an option to return for Philadelphia. No, thanks. I would rather run the wildcat for four quarters than bring Dalton back.
Hurts sent a message before he went down
Earlier in the week, Hurts was asked about the struggles of the offense. He didn’t want to get into details about his calf, but he did deliver this line.
“This is who we are, but maybe this is what this game looks like,” Hurts said.
Read that again. He is saying the offensive coaching staff needs to adapt game by game, and it isn’t doing that. We covered some of his other subtle messages about running the ball previously, and this one fits right in. Hurts is out now, but the staff better listen anyway.
We just talked about how the Eagles reshaped the playbook for Nick Foles, something Brandon Graham pointed out. Now they need to do the same for McKee.
Do I trust them to do it? Not really.
A couple of years ago, I would have felt fine. McKee was a late-round pick with a cannon for an arm. In his start at the end of the 2024 season, he went 27-of-41 for two touchdown passes and no interceptions. Then Kevin Patullo happened. Maybe Patullo broke him, or maybe Kellen Moore was so good that he hid all of McKee’s flaws. In his start last year, McKee went 21-of-40 (52.5%) for 241 yards, one touchdown pass, and one interception in a 24-17 loss to Washington.
Then McKee couldn’t beat out Dalton in training camp. Dalton threw one pass as an Eagle, and the Bears picked it off. Philly cut him last week.
Now McKee gets Thursday and Friday practices. That’s it. Because the training staff waited until Thursday to determine the severity, Philly not only shortened McKee’s prep, it also could have put Hurts’ health at further risk.
Injury report, platoons, and a prediction
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an Eagles injury report like this one. Philly is usually healthy. This year, the team could be down to its backup quarterback, its fourth-string running back, its second- or third-string receivers, and about its 57th offensive lineman. Will Shipley is out, and so is Tank Bigsby. Maybe Saquon Barkley comes out of nowhere to play. If he doesn’t, Damion Pierce is the running back, and Jaydon Blue probably gets the call-up. Come on. This is brutal.
Then there’s defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who plans to platoon Jeremiah Trotter and Jihaad Campbell at linebacker by series. What are we doing? I get that it’s a prove-it year for a lot of guys, and Fangio is old school. But play the better player. If Trotter is better, start him. This feels like Little League, and the injury report reads like a grocery list from someone who skipped the store for two months. No wonder GM Howie Roseman was fuming after blown chances against the Rams and the Jaguars.
Carolina is averaging 30.3 points per game, and Bryce Young looks fantastic in the new offense. The Panthers’ defense has been bad, though. Can the Eagles limit Young? I think so. The defense keeps improving every week, and Fangio is a terrific coach. But if the offense goes quiet again in the second half, the defense will wear down. You can’t ask it to pitch a shutout.
My prediction? Philly keeps it close because of that defense. But McKee on a short week, behind this patchwork lineup and with a staff that hasn’t shown it can build a plan around him, is running into a buzzsaw. Panthers 24, Eagles 20.
Hopefully Hurts is back for the three big division games ahead. Right now, though, I don’t see the light at the end of this tunnel.
