After Jalen Hurts’ case came to light and the Philadelphia Eagles reportedly ruled him out for the rest of the season, Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, defended the medical staff and their handling of the quarterback’s situation. The league also confirmed that it had no plans to investigate the medical care Hurts received.

However, the Eagles and their medical staff continue to face scrutiny. The NFLPA has called for a full investigation before any conclusions are drawn about how the situation was handled, while Sills has also faced criticism. Most recently, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers weighed in, admitting he wasn’t surprised by how the situation unfolded, given his familiarity with how Sills operates.

“I don’t have a close relationship with Jalen (Hurts). Obviously, we’re in the quarterback fraternity, so you don’t want to see anything like that happen to anybody. Especially a guy who’s still in football,” said Rodgers, per Nick Farabaugh of PennLive. “Obviously, I don’t know all the details about what’s going on. All I’ve seen is what’s been printed. Allen Sills, he’s the guy in charge of all things medical at the NFL office. And he and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye about things. So, I can’t say I’m real surprised.”

Now in his 22nd NFL season, Rodgers has dealt with multiple injuries throughout his career and has also made headlines for his public back-and-forth with the league during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that history, the way the medical staff handled Jalen Hurts’ situation has clearly caught the veteran quarterback’s attention.

But Sills backed up his medical staff despite the scrutiny.

“We don’t have protocol about this,” Sills said. “There’s certain things we have protocols on, like concussion and heat and emergency preparedness. I’ll just sum it up by saying that I have complete confidence in the Eagles’ medical staff and their handling of this situation and I would characterize their work as very conservative, very patient-focused and appropriately guarded at every step.”

At the same time, NFL executive Jeff Miller said the league had spoken with the Eagles’ staff and the independent doctors involved and believed it had a complete understanding of the sequence of events. The NFLPA, however, said it was not aware of an NFL investigation and wanted a full review.

Hurts cleated in his calf against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4 but continued practice the following week leading up to the Jacksonville Jaguars matchup. He requested treatment, and once the Eagles reached London, a superficial clot was revealed in Hurts’ calf. Despite figuring out the injury, the medical staff cleared Hurts to start against the Jaguars.

At the same time, the quarterback stayed in a hospital in London the night before the game and reportedly wasn’t allowed to sleep for 36 hours due to health reasons. However, his agent, Nicole Lynn, later confirmed that Hurts was able to rest before the game.

“Just spoke to Jalen Hurts’ agent, Nicole Lynn, who clarified that while Hurts was up until early Sunday morning getting evaluated at a hospital, he was able to sleep upon rejoining the team and the Eagles set aside a room for him at the stadium. Videos from the stadium show Hurts coming onto the field just before kickoff and he felt rested enough to play,” reported Tom Pelissero on X.

Meanwhile, the league also disputed the reports on Jalen not getting any sleep ahead of the game, noting,

“That was not true and no one told him not to sleep because of his situation. The club told all players, coaches and personnel to try to stay awake as long as they could on Saturday as the team was returning back home after the game in London. The team did not have a bye week and like other NFL teams that travel to London and back, they were trying maintain as much of a normal routine as possible,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

The situation escalated once the follow-up ultrasound revealed movement in the small blood clots. Eagles first ruled him out for the Week 6 matchup, then placed him on injured reserve, and eventually ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Per reports, Jalen Hurts is now diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, meaning blood clots in both lungs. Subsequently, his agent released a statement, citing the health complication and stating that Hurts’ treatment will involve blood thinners.

That said, the Eagles currently sit at 2-4 after four consecutive losses. And with Jalen Hurts out of the season, the unit will rely on a backup quarterback as it prepares to face the Dallas Cowboys on Monday.