Former Chargers Doctor Explains The Risk In Jalen Hurts’ Clot© Instagram
Jalen Hurts will miss the Eagles’ game against the Panthers on Sunday. The team said an ultrasound found a superficial blood clot in his calf, and that Hurts was cleared to play at first. A later scan changed that call. David Chao, the Chargers’ team doctor for 17 years, read the team’s statement closely and fixed on one word in it, which he says could decide whether Hurts is out a short time or a long one. A Wednesday evening scan then showed movement, and the Eagles ruled Hurts out for Sunday’s game against the Panthers. The statement offered no return date.
Why One Word Matters
The word is “movement.” The Eagles said a Wednesday follow-up ultrasound revealed “movement in the small blood clot” that the team had found four days earlier. Chao wants to know what that means. Is the clot growing while staying near the surface? Or has it moved deeper into the leg and become a deep vein clot?
Those possibilities lead to very different timelines. “If he has a deep vein clot, he’s out for multiple weeks, at least,” Chao told OutKick. He added that superficial clots can move and remain superficial. Once a clot is deep, he said, “it starts to be measured in months not weeks.”
What a Deeper Clot Could Mean
Deep vein clots are more dangerous because they can break loose. A fragment that reaches the lungs causes a pulmonary embolism, and Chao said that would end the season: “Then he would be out for the season.”
Treatment brings its own risk. Strong anticoagulants raise the chance of bleeding. Blood thinners alone do not rule a player out, Chao said. The deciding factor is how strong a medication he would need.
The Eagles have not said which type of clot Hurts has. The sequence they described still matters. An ultrasound after the team flew to London on Saturday found a superficial clot, and doctors judged he could play. The team flew home after the game.
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