Jalen Hurts' 2026 season was put on pause this week, as the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was diagnosed with a superficial blood clot that had experienced some movement and the team placed him on IR on Saturday. The team diagnosed the clot and informed the league of Hurts' situation last week, but he was cleared to suit up and play in their Week 5 London loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. After a follow-up ultrasound revealed movement in the clot, the team announced that Hurts would have to sit out for at least one week while they treated him.
It initially looked like the quarterback would avoid injured reserve, but ESPN reported Saturday afternoon that after consultations with doctors and experts, the Eagles decided to place Hurts on injured reserve -- meaning he will miss at least the next four games. What is a superficial blood clot and how much time could Hurts miss? Henry Han at UT Southwestern to get some answers.
Han is a board certified cardiologist that works at the intersection of cardiology and vascular medicine. He has seen clot-related diseases, diseases related to aneurysms, tears in blood vessels, and is very familiar with superficial vein thrombosis. A superficial blood clot could be classified as "superficial thrombophlebitis," or a much easier term: "superficial vein thrombosis." Dr.
Han: "Basically it's a blood clot that's in one of the veins that's on the surface level underneath the skin. We typically find it in the leg, sometimes we find it in the arm. What happens is when the clot forms there, the vein gets inflamed.
And so the area turns really red, it gets warm and it gets tender." This is a situation that deserves monitoring, but it's also not the more serious "deep vein thrombosis" we've seen in sports before. Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, for example, was forced to miss the final 30 games of the 2024-25 season after doctors discovered deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. Then there's two-time NBA champion Chris Bosh, who was forced to retire early due to a clotting condition.
Han: "Superficial clots that sit near the surface on your surface veins are a lot less dangerous compared to the DVT (deep vein thrombosis). In sports we hear about the DVTs that for some athletes end up being sort of career-enders. The interesting part is that the superficial vein thromboses typically are not dangerous to that degree and the treatment for what you would need for both is a little bit different as well." In their statement released on Thursday, the Eagles said that four days after the Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Hurts requested treatment on his calf.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
