Jalen Hurts will not be placed on injured reserve, allowing the Eagles quarterback — who has a superficial blood clot in his calf — to remain available for a potential return ahead of the team's Week 10 bye. Reports from Saturday morning indicated that the Eagles have opted against placing Hurts on injured reserve, though his return timeline has yet to be determined.
The Eagles' medical staff views the blood clot as manageable, while Hurts weighs his options for moving forward with treatment. Placement on short-term injured reserve would have kept Hurts sidelined through Week 9, with Pittsburgh's Nov. 22 date at Lincoln Financial Field standing as the earliest game he could have featured in. Retaining him on the active roster leaves open the possibility of his appearing when Dallas heads to Philadelphia on Oct. 26 or when the Eagles make the trip to Washington on Nov. 1.
Doctors have yet to reach a clear picture of what lies ahead for Hurts. Participation in games is off the table for any athlete managing anticoagulant therapy, and should the clot deteriorate further, a course of those medications lasting around three months would likely follow. Physicians with no direct access to Hurts have offered varying timelines, with some pointing to a potential absence of several weeks while others connected to the team describe his status as week-to-week.
An ultrasound examination conducted in London, ahead of the Eagles' Week 5 matchup at Jacksonville, had already detected the clot, and the medical staff determined that Hurts was fit to take the field. He threw for 220 yards on 21 completions from 40 attempts in a game the Eagles lost 19-17, and a follow-up ultrasound taken Wednesday evening revealed the clot had shifted position.
Lined up for his third NFL start, Tanner McKee — a Stanford product taken by the Panthers in the sixth round of the 2023 draft — takes the field against Philadelphia on Sunday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET. His record as a starter stands at one win and one loss, with both appearances coming during Week 18.
Carrying a three-game skid into this contest, the Eagles hold a 2-3 record on the season. On Friday, the Eagles added quarterback Joe Milton III to their roster, pulling him from Dallas's practice squad. The former Tennessee quarterback slots into the depth chart alongside McKee and rookie Cole Payton at the position.
Head coach Nick Sirianni chose not to give a timeframe for Hurts's return on Friday, telling reporters that the quarterback's wellbeing was the organisation's top priority and that he has a personal investment in the player's health — this through five games in which Hurts has thrown for 933 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions. McKee inherits an offence that managed just 17 points during the London game.
