{"id":935015,"date":"2026-10-20T14:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935015\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T14:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:18:13","slug":"jalen-hurts-played-through-a-blood-clot-are-nfl-players-cattle-philadelphia-eagles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935015\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Hurts played through a blood clot. Are NFL players cattle? | Philadelphia Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jalen Hurts is likely to miss the rest of the season<\/a> after an ultrasound revealed blood clots in his lungs. Thankfully, he\u2019s now restricted from playing for the immediate future, meaning he won\u2019t be risking serious complications \u2013 or even his life \u2013 as he did when he played in their Week 5 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.<\/p>\n

Hurts complained to the Eagles medical staff of calf pain on 8 October, according to ESPN<\/a>. The Eagles say<\/a> that Hurts flew to London with the rest of the team and, out of an \u201cabundance of caution,\u201d was given an ultrasound. The test found a superficial clot in his calf. Doing the ultrasound before the flight would\u2019ve been the most prudent thing. The same for making him inactive after the clot was found. But instead, he played in the game on 11 October, as the medical staff and doctors in London agreed \u201cthat activity and mobility were important.\u201d Hurts also practiced all last week before a follow-up ultrasound also found clots in his lungs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some have celebrated Hurts\u2019s performance against the Jaguars as a feat of virility<\/a>; to many it looks more like putting a player in real danger. His blood clots could have caused serious health issues during the flights or game (one sports medicine doctor told NJ.com that Hurts<\/a> was \u201ca walking risk\u201d). If his condition was dire enough that doctors reportedly told him in the early hours of Sunday morning not to sleep before the Jaguars game, he shouldn\u2019t have been playing. Hurts\u2019s agent, Nicole Lynn, clarified that he did get some sleep<\/a> before facing the Jaguars, but the question remains: Was the NFL\u2019s London showcase so important that it was worth risking Hurts\u2019s life?<\/p>\n

Asked about his decision to play Hurts, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told reporters that<\/a> he relies on advice from medical staff. \u201cI\u2019m a football coach. I lean on our medical experts in every situation,\u201d he said. \u201cI have full trust and full faith in them. It\u2019s not just me that has major care for our players. It\u2019s them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Super Bowl LIX MVP is on blood thinners and hopefully on the road to healing, and is expected to make a full recovery. But his ordeal is the latest example of how football players are put in danger season after season. One piece of research from 2017<\/a> found that a college player took hits to his head during a single game that were equivalent to multiple car crashes. A study published this year<\/a> found that 215 of 235 brains of former NFL players donated for research showed signs of CTE, a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death. The NFL has said that it \u201ccontinuously strives to make the game of football safer, including by implementing \u2060strategies to reduce concussions and head impacts\u201d but players keep on suffering concussions, and others like Hurts find themselves in a football culture where playing through injury is commonplace.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, Hurts told reporters<\/a> that his last week had been a \u201cvery unique experience\u201d but declined to reveal the blood clot. No one has reported that he received any undue pressure from the Eagles or the league to play against the Jaguars. But it wouldn\u2019t be shocking; this isn\u2019t even the Eagles\u2019 first controversial injury in London. In 2018, former Eagles tackle Lane Johnson was reportedly \u201cberated\u201d<\/a> by general manager Howie Roseman for saying he was unsure about playing because of a high ankle sprain. After suiting up, Roseman reportedly told him, \u201cGood, you have your mouthpiece in, now you can\u2019t say anything stupid.\u201d Neither man has commented on the matter, but it appears to offer a glimpse of life in the good ol\u2019 NFL, where admitting you\u2019re impaired is stupidity. Johnson aggravated the ankle injury and suffered a knee injury during the game.<\/p>\n

Football culture demands that players \u201ctough it out\u201d and get on the field. As former NFL receiver Bernard Berrian has said<\/a>, the tension \u201cisn\u2019t verbal\u201d but is still \u201cthere\u201d because, \u201cas we say, you can\u2019t make the team in the training room.\u201d Former running back Clinton Portis echoed Berrian <\/a>when he spoke about playing through 10 concussions in his career and rarely getting treatment: \u201cYou can\u2019t make the club in the tub.\u201d Portis said he was \u201creally scared\u201d of undergoing testing to assess his neurological health.<\/p>\n

You can see how the culture of the NFL makes players behave this way. With only 61% of NFL contracts containing guarantees<\/a>, and an average 56% year-to-year retention<\/a>, the pressure to stay active and keep the checks coming in is rampant. Pretty much every job pressures its employees to perform in some capacity; only one entails 300-pound men running full speed to tackle you for 17 games a year. Players shouldn\u2019t be made to feel like they need to be on the field, but the irrational \u201cwin now\u201d pressure that they face trickles down and paints them in two colors: an asset or expendable. It\u2019s inherently inhumane.<\/p>\n

The NFL has attempted to address injuries, and the threat of concussion and CTE in particular, but those efforts don\u2019t seem to be enough. The league has changed kickoff rules and introduced oversized Guardian Caps<\/a> to mitigate concussions, but football\u2019s physical risks persist. A 2018 study<\/a> in the Brain Neurology Journal revealed that subconcussive hits also contribute to CTE. And a 2025 Wisconsin School of Medicine study concluded<\/a> that Guardian Caps did not reduce concussion rates in a sample of high school players. It\u2019s unclear what seismic changes could actually address football\u2019s inherent brutality. And the NFL\u2019s struggles to stop it shows they\u2019re unsure \u2013 or don\u2019t care enough \u2013 too.<\/p>\n

Hurts\u2019s case also raises the specter of medical racism. Multiple studies have shown<\/a> that Black people and other minorities in the US are less likely to receive adequate medical care than white people. It\u2019s impossible to say whether the staff who treated Hurts looked at a strapping Black athlete and believed he could play a brutal game while suffering from blood clots. But the incident nonetheless conjures historical patterns and lived experiences<\/a> of Black people not receiving proper care<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hopefully Hurts gets back on the field and has a long, healthy career. Regardless, the Eagles\u2019 handling of his treatment should be a demarcation point for the league. From the top down, the league needs to stop treating their labor force like cattle on a farm, as if their sole worth is in putting their bodies at risk.<\/p>\n