"Played His Last Down": Jalen Hurts’ Philadelphia Eagles Exit Becomes A Serious Possibility After Blood Clot Diagnosis

ESPN insider hints at shocking Jalen Hurts exit© Instagram/ @jalenhurts

Jalen Hurts is done for the season, and his place in Philadelphia may be shaky too. The Eagles quarterback has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, and he appears to have played the Jacksonville game with a clot in his calf. That fact has stirred up real controversy around the team. Now ESPN's Jeremy Fowler says some teams believe Hurts has taken his final snap as an Eagle. The team insists he will recover fully.

Jalen Hurts' future with the Eagles after the blood clot diagnosis

Fowler did not hedge on the Rich Eisen Show. "Jalen Hurts, his tenure in Philadelphia, I would probably call tenuous at this point," he said. "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."

Trade chatter was already floating around this offseason. Last year's offense disappointed, and Hurts' play was a big part of that. ESPN's Dan Graziano named the Eagles as a team that could face quarterback questions after 2026, even though Hurts' deal runs through 2028.

The Eagles have placed him on injured reserve, which means at least four games out. Hurts had never missed more than two games in a season since becoming the starter in 2021. Tanner McKee now leads the offense. In his first game, a loss to the Carolina Panthers, he threw for 215 yards and one touchdown and took three sacks.

Jalen Hurts blood clot: what doctors and the Eagles are saying

The team's statement was upbeat. "Jalen's prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery." Still, this is a medical condition, not a typical injury. Doctors say the clot was first found in his leg and initially labeled superficial, meaning close to the skin. 

Those can travel and lead to deep vein thrombosis. A pulmonary embolism then forces the heart to work harder because the clot blocks blood vessels in the lungs.

CBS News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook described the usual path. "Normally what you do is you would treat this with blood thinners for three months and then sort of see what happens," he 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." Dr. William Shutze told the New York Post that anyone who has had one clot faces a risk of future clots.

Coach Nick Sirianni would not explain why Hurts was cleared to play after the diagnosis. He said "the health of our players is always at the forefront of our mind" and that he has "full faith" in the team's medical experts. He did admit the change will be hard. "I haven't been without Jalen for an extended period of time," he said. 

He added, "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."