Jalen Hurts is currently out for the season with deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli diagnoses. The development blew up into a massive controversy for the Eagles, as Hurts seemed to have played the Jacksonville game with a blood clot in his calf.
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Now, per an ESPN reporter, his future in Philadelphia may be in question, with an exit described as a serious possibility.
“Jalen Hurts, his tenure in Philadelphia, I would probably call tenuous at this point,” Jeremy Fowler said on the Rich Eisen Show. “I’ve talked to teams who think that maybe he’s played his last down with the Eagles, even though he’s got $22 million guaranteed next year on his contract, which could be a bit of a hurdle. But, you know, things weren’t going all that great before the blood clot issue with the offense.”
Fowler is not wrong. The whispers about Hurts being traded were around this offseason. The Eagles offense was entering the 2026 season after a particularly disappointing offensive showcase last year, chief among them being Hurt’s performance. ESPN’s Dan Graziano listed the Eagles as one of the potential teams to have quarterback uncertainty after 2026. This was despite Hurts’ contract running through the 2028 season.
Jalen Hurts has been remarkably durable since taking over as Philadelphia’s quarterback in 2021, never missing more than two games in a single season. That run has ended. The Eagles placed Hurts on injured reserve, which means at least four games on the sideline. However, with a condition as risky as Hurts, it can take months for the QB to avoid risks.
“Normally what you do is you would treat this with blood thinners for three months and then sort of see what happens,” Dr. Jon LaPook, Chief Medical Correspondent for CBS News, said. “Now, they’re going to follow him closely. It may be more than that, and then after that, you take them off the blood thinners.”
The official statement released says, “Jalen’s prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery.” But Hurts isn’t battling an injury; he is battling a condition that could have turned risky if left unattended.
Pulmonary embolism forces the heart to work overtime as the clot blocks off blood vessels in the lungs. And Hurts’ situation became aggravated after the clot was first caught in his leg, which was initially diagnosed as a superficial clot. The condition is when a clot is close to the skin, but it poses a risk of triggering deep vein thrombosis by traveling in the bloodstream. Hurts has that condition now.
Coach Nick Sirianni didn’t get into why Hurts was cleared to play after the diagnosis. He did say that “the health of our players is always at the forefront of our mind” and said he has “full faith” in the team’s medical experts.
Sirianni kept his private talks with Hurts to himself, though he admitted life without his quarterback will take some adjusting.
“I haven’t been without Jalen for an extended period of time,” the coach said. “I have the utmost confidence in Tanner, but I miss him. I miss him, and I know that will be the case because Jalen and I have been together, head coach and quarterback, for six years, so that’s natural.”
Whether or not Hurts’ time with the Eagles, or even in the NFL, ends will remain a mystery as long as the QB is away. Dr. William Shutze told the New York Post that there is a risk of future clots when someone is diagnosed with one.
For now, the Eagles will lean on Tanner McKee while Hurts stays close to the team, with the expectation that he returns healthy once his treatment is done.
The Eagles lost the Carolina Panthers matchup with McKee in the lead. He threw for 215 yards, one touchdown, and was sacked three times.