Eagles wronged Jalen Hurts and controversial blood cot decision could take down Super Bowl coach

Nick Sirianni blamed himself after the Philadelphia Eagles gave away a London victory to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final seconds. It’s obvious nine days later that Sirianni and the Eagles should have accepted even more of the blame about a decision that could affect Jalen Hurts for years to come. The Eagles didn’t just lose 19-17 to the Jaguars before a NFL-record crowd of 61,322 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Week 5. Sirianni and the Eagles chose to allow Hurts to take the field for four messy quarters, despite already knowing that the Super Bowl-winning quarterback was dealing with a superficial blood clot. “I didn’t make the right decision and it cost us the game,” said Sirianni, after being asked about a Philadelphia kickoff that set up Cam Little’s game-winning 57-yard field goal. “I didn’t make the right decision in that situation.” Sirianni definitely didn’t make the right decision on a day when it was obvious that Hurts wasn’t 100 percent. I wrote postgame that Hurts, ‘struggled to perform like an NFL-caliber quarterback.’ He barely completed 50 percent of his passes (21-of-40), only averaged 5.5 yards per attempt and posted a weak 77.1 rating. Now, it’s clear why Hurts wasn’t himself between the lines. But he still stood at the podium on October 11 and professionally answered question after question — and never used his recent diagnosis as an excuse. “I didn’t perform well enough,” said Hurts, who described the Eagles’ second-half offense as “inexcusable.” What’s truly inexcusable is the Eagles potentially putting Hurts’ life and career at stake during an NFL international game, which featured two flights across the Atlantic Ocean and more than 7,000 miles of travel. “After initially being diagnosed with a superficial blood clot in London, doctors told him (Hurts) not to sleep as a precaution,” NFL reporter Tom Pelissero tweeted. “So he had been awake for roughly 36 hours when he started against the Jaguars.” There’s been a wave of poor reporting in the aftermath of Hurts’ initial injury news. On Monday, official news finally arrived — and it only made the Eagles’ London decision look even worse. The 28-year-old Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the 2026 NFL season after doctors discovered multiple blood clots in his lungs. He will be treated with blood thinners and kept off the field for at least three months. Hurts has deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, which means that a blood clot traveled from his legs to his lungs. “The same doctors and trainers that helped 21 of our 22 starters be available in the Super Bowl are the same guys today that deeply care about our guys, to help them,” Sirianni said Monday. That sounds great but Sirianni holds the final call on who starts for the Eagles, and it was obvious watching a slowed-down Hurts badly misfire on throws that he was out of sorts in London. “Jalen was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis,” a statement from the Eagles and Hurts’ agent, Nicole Lynn, said. “After further testing and monitoring, the current diagnosis is deep vein thrombosis, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli. He is clinically stable and has no significant functional limitations.” I wrote this after the Eagles fell to 2-3: ‘Either Hurts will be benched in 2026 or Sirianni will get fired.’ Hurts has already been made inactive for the rest of the season . NFL's Greatest...... Ranking the top 10...... Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady? Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top? Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and more Tight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare? There are two remaining moves for the Eagles to make. A full investigation is required of the events surrounding Hurts’ initial and follow-up diagnosis. And it’s time to sack Sirianni, who placed his interests above Hurts’ — even though the MVP of Super Bowl LIX was the only one of the two who put his body on the line for four quarters, nine days ago inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Join talkSPORT’s dedicated US Sports YouTube channel The S* Word every Tuesday and Thursday for our brand new NFL shows. On Tuesdays, Will Gavin and US senior reporter Brian T. Smith will debate the biggest talking points from the NFL weekend, while on Thursdays Efe Obada joins the crew to talk to players past and present and break down what to look for across the league .