🏈 The Weekly Blitz: Our jaws? On the floor

The GIST: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback (QB) Jalen Hurts will miss the rest of the season after several blood clots were discovered in his lungs. Here’s what you need to know about this serious and developing medical situation.

⏰ The timeline: Hurts was diagnosed with a superficial blood clot in his calf ahead of the Birds’ Week 5 game in London. The three-time Pro Bowler reportedly sustained the initial injury when he was cleated in a Week 4 tilt against the LA Rams — though the clot itself wasn’t found until after the Eagles’ transatlantic flight to England.

• After undergoing screening on his calf in London, Hurts was hospitalized and advised not to sleep (and he didn’t for 36 hours) ahead of Sunday’s kickoff as it was too big a risk. What apparently wasn’t a risk? Playing in that international football game.

• The star signal caller threw for 220 yards and a touchdown in the loss before boarding yet another transatlantic flight to return home. An ultrasound last Wednesday revealed movement in the clot, leading the QB to undergo additional evaluations.

• Then, Hurts’ season-ending diagnosis was revealed yesterday: deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, aka multiple blood clots that traveled to both lungs.

🩺 The medical reality: Blood thinners are the usual course of action for treating blood clots, and that’s exactly how Hurts’ medical team is approaching his recovery. Other high-profile athletes — like tennis legend Serena Williams and NBA icon Victor Wembanyama — have successfully navigated pulmonary emboli and returned to competition…but not quickly.

🏈 The football consequences: According to Hurts’ agent Nicole Lynn, he’s clinically stable and on blood thinners, which reduce the risks of new clots forming and current clots increasing in size. This buys time for Hurts’ body to break down and dissolve the emboli, a process that could take months.

• As long as Hurts is on blood thinners, he can’t play football. The Birds will have to navigate a new normal without their cornerstone QB in an already tumultuous season — but Hurts’ health is the only priority in a situation like this.

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