Eagles QB Jalen Hurts out for season after blood clots discovered in lungs, league sources say

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is on blood thinners after additional testing revealed a deep vein thrombosis and blood clots in his lungs, his agent, Nicole Lynn, said in a joint statement with the team Monday.

Hurts missed Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers and was placed on injured reserve after what was initially described as a "superficial" blood clot in his left calf. 

League sources told CBS News Philadelphia that Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Further testing Monday revealed Hurts was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli — lung blood clots, according to the joint statement.

Hurts is clinically stable and has no significant functional limitations. He was placed on anticoagulants, also known as blood thinners, and won't be participating in football while on this medication.

"Jalen's prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery. We anticipate that he will have the opportunity to resume contact football activities when off the blood thinners," the statement said.

Hurts will stay active around the team and keep in shape.

"We anticipate that he will have no long-term effects. We are thinking of Jalen and looking forward to a strong recovery," the statement reads.

Nick Sirianni addresses Jalen Hurts' blood clot diagnosis in press conference

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was grilled by reporters Monday in his first news conference since Hurts' new diagnosis. 

Sirianni declined to go into detail about the team's decision to have Hurts play the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 6, saying the Eagles care "deeply" about the players and that the medical staff made the decision. 

"Guys, I'm not a medical expert," Sirianni said. "I lean on our guys in all those situations. I'm a football coach. I lean on our medical experts in every situation. I have full faith and trust in them. It's not just me that has major care for our players; it's them as well. So, we are all there, and I'm glad to be part of an organization that cares about the guys the way our guys do."

According to numerous reports from NFL insiders Monday, Hurts was awake for more than 30 hours and didn't sleep as a precaution before the Week 5 game in London. Following up on his initial report, The Ringer's Tom Pelissero says he spoke to Lynn, who clarified that while Hurts was up until early Sunday morning at the hospital, he was able to sleep upon rejoining the team.

The Eagles reportedly had a room set aside for him at the stadium before kickoff.

"That reporter [who] put that out came out with another report," Sirianni said. "I know you guys saw that. The health of our players is always at the forefront of our mind. We leave that up to the medical experts, but we always, always care deeply about our players.

"When you are completely focused on together and connection, you're always thinking about the well-being of your guys. That's where we were in that situation."

What is a pulmonary embolism?

Dr. Parth Rali, the director of the pulmonary embolism response team at Temple Health, said the standard treatment for Hurts is blood thinners, which can help dissolve the clots. 

A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the lung that can interfere with blood flow. For Hurts, it's in both lungs, which is not unusual.

"Ideally, minimum blood thinners has to be for three months," Rali said. "You cannot have any contact sports because on blood thinners … you have chances of bleeding."

Hurts had initially been diagnosed before the game in London with a superficial blood clot in his calf.

Doctors said there's a risk the superficial blood clot can turn into a deep vein thrombosis, which is a more serious blood clot that can travel to the lungs.

However, doctors cleared Hurts to play in London and fly back home to Philadelphia. 

Did the flights make Hurts' blood clot worse?  

"It can happen even with the best of care, so I'm not sure that we can really say that anything that he did or the way he was treated was necessarily causative," said Dr. William Gray, who specializes in cardiology, heart and vascular care at Main Line Health.  

Gray said that the report that Hurts was advised to not sleep while he was at the hospital before the London game "doesn't really make a lot of sense."

"A superficial blood clot is 90% of the case is benign, managed with conservative therapy, like compression, heat and generally goes away," Gray said. 

Doctors said once the blood clots are resolved, Hurts should be able to completely recover and resume playing football.

Timeline of Jalen Hurts' blood clots diagnosis

Hurts' injury first came to light Oct. 8 when he requested treatment on his calf, saying he had been cleated during the Rams game on Oct. 4. 

A small blood clot was revealed by an ultrasound performed after the team's flight to London to face the Jaguars. Specialists in London at that time diagnosed Hurts with a superficial blood clot.

Hurts played in the London game, a heartbreaking, last-second loss to the Jaguars.

Hurts was placed on injured reserve before the Week 6 game against the Panthers on Oct. 17. 

Further testing diagnosed him with a deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, according to a joint statement by the Eagles and Lynn on Oct. 19.