EMERGENCY POD: JALEN HURTS RULED OUT FOR WEEK 6

What's going on, everybody? And good afternoon. I say good afternoon. That's because that's how I start all these pods. But it's not a good afternoon. As the news has come out that Jalen Hurts will not play and is out this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. News that obviously is both shocking and, you know, scary, right? It's a it's a blood clot. So we have a lot to talk about in this emergency pod. But the truth I'll say is this, you know, I see a lot of online reaction. I see a lot of reaction from people. The honest truth is we are doing a lot of guessing when we talk about the blood clot, right? When we talk about a player's injury, we are guessing mostly anyway, right? Like obviously we, I hear things covering the team, reporters hear things. If it's a hamstring, we have things to reference. And like those things can all be helpful. But the truth is every single situation involving an athlete is different because every situation involving an athlete is involving a different human. Just like if you have a cold, it's not the same as if someone else has a cold. If you have a sickness, it's just not the same, right? So we are going to talk on this pod about the blood clot and we will play audio from a sports doctor, Dr. David Chow, that does an unbelievable job talking about these things. But I would just say first before we even begin this conversation, there is a lot of guessing out there right now. How long will Jalen be out? Is this season ending? What does this mean for the season? And I understand we will talk about this from a football perspective, right? But I would just caution people to say, all we know for sure now is he is out Sunday. And we know that the Eagles are taking care of him, and we know that he has the best doctors looking after him. So those, I think, are the things that we can say for sure when we talk here, right? Like, here's the team statement that was released, I guess a little after two o'clock or a little before two o'clock on Thursday. So it reads, quote, On Thursday, October 8th, Jalen visited the training room after practice requesting treatment for his calf. He informed the medical staff he'd been cleared during the Rams game on October. Oh, sorry, I misspoke there. He had been cleated during the Rams game on October 4th. This was his first treatment session for the calf injury following the game. After having practice in full both Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, Jalen received the treatment, practiced in full and was added to the practice report. So, just to kind of recap before we keep going. He had been cleated during the Rams game on October 4th. He practices Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday after practice, he visited the training room requesting treatment for his calf. He received treatment, he practiced in full, and he was added to the practice report on Friday. So, okay. Adam in abundance of caution. This is a continuation of the quote. Adam in abundance of caution. An ultrasound was performed on Saturday following the team's flight to London and walkthrough. The ultrasound revealed a superficial blood clot. Our medical staff and doctors in London reviewed the results and concluded that activity and mobility were important, and that Jalen could safely play. Doctors recommended a follow-up ultrasound within 72 hours of the game, and the return flight to Philadelphia. So, let's recap that. So, he reports the feeling in his calf on Thursday, after practice. He practices in full on Friday. He is added to the injury report. They fly to London Friday night, and they have him tested on Saturday when they are in London. The doctors, including the team doctors and doctors in London, felt it was safe for him to play. So, he goes, he plays in the game, and then he flies back to Philadelphia after the game. So, then a continuation of the quote. Quote, Jalen played without limitation in the game Sunday, received treatment on Monday and Tuesday, and practiced in full on Wednesday, as reflected in the practice report. So, he was full on Wednesday with the calf injury. Throughout our time in London and this week, we have remained in communication with the league office regarding the matter. On Wednesday night, a follow-up ultrasound revealed movement in the small blood clot. Jalen will be out for Sunday's game versus the Panthers as we determine the appropriate course of treatment. His health and safety are of our highest priority. Basically, the doctors say it's okay for him to go to London, it's okay for him to play in the game, it's okay for him to fly back, it's okay for him to practice. Then in the follow-up ultrasound, so I guess he didn't experience any more symptoms. I mean, I'm guessing there, which I know is why I said we shouldn't do, but I'm guessing the follow-up ultrasound reveals that there was movement in the small blood clot. So now he's out for Sunday. So let's just kind of talk about this first, just from a medical perspective. When I say let's talk about it, I'm gonna play a clip from Dr. David Chow, the sports doctor. We've talked about him on the pod before. He used to be a doctor for the Chargers. And while everybody is guessing, I will say he has a track record of watching injuries in game and pretty accurately depicting what they're going to be. So he explains his breakdown of this better than I can. And so here is his explanation of what is going on. So obviously, the next step here from Jalen's perspective is what happens with the blood clot, right? Like, is it or does it remain superficial? Does it become a deep blood clot? What type of treatment does he need? I think as of right now, like they probably don't even know the answer to that. They probably only know what they said. It was very clear. It wasn't just Jalen's out with a blood clot and the rest is like being leaked to reporters, right? They were very clear and honest about what they knew right there. So what happens next? Well, we know he doesn't play against Carolina. I think they have to wait and figure out. So while I understand when you hear a blood clot, it is clearly worrisome, right? But they don't know and this could end up being nothing. It could end up, I shouldn't say nothing. This could end up being something where he plays Monday night, the next Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, right? It's a superficial blood clot. They treat it. It's the less serious of the blood clots he plays. Now, it could be two games. Like maybe doesn't play against Dallas, right? Like so we just don't know. But I think the jumping to conclusion, and I get it, like everyone kind of wants to think through all the scenarios of what could happen, of how long he could be out, is we're all just guessing. And I don't even think they know, right? So that's what I would say from a health perspective. Also, obviously, when you hear something like blood clot, the utmost importance is his safety. Now, I've always felt like when someone has a hamstring, or a broken arm, or a broken leg, like clearly, then the first thing should be their safety and their health too. So I think whenever these humans that are athletes have anything going on, the top priority is their safety, right? But obviously, with a blood clot where it could be very serious, I think Jalen is in good hands, right? He has the best doctors taking care of him. I think we would all agree, the first thing we care about most is Jalen getting healthy and Jalen feeling safe, right? So hopefully, he feels safe. Hopefully, he doesn't feel scared right now, and hopefully, this is something that rectifies itself quickly. So let's talk about this from two different perspectives first. The first one is Jalen is not playing on Sunday. He will not be in the game. So let's, I understand it feels weird to talk about football at this time, but let's move on from the Jalen thing for a second and just talk about the team because that's the next part of this. Tanner McKee will start the game on Sunday. He is the backup quarterback. He's on the roster. He will start on Sunday. The backup, as of now, will be Cole Payton. Now, could they sign Andy Dalton? Could Andy Dalton come back to the team? I would not rule that out. And Andy coming back, I would not, if it does happen, I would not read as a sign that Jalen's thing is worse or better. Like, they don't know, and maybe if you can get Andy back in the building, he's been here all off season, you then have a backup quarterback behind Tanner that is not Cole Payton, who has never played in an NFL game, right? Cause he's a rookie. So they go from having four quarterbacks and everyone's like, why do you have four? Why do you have four? Why do you have four? To all of a sudden, going to two, and it's the least experience of the two quarterbacks. So like going into Sunday's game, we can all talk about like how Tanner might play, if you know, all those things, which we'll talk about, but like from just a roster perspective, they go to Tanner McKee and Cole Payton, like Cole Payton could be one snap away from going in this game. So that is one thing to consider here, just from the roster perspective. Then there's the Tanner part of it, right? Tanner and Jalen, two very different quarterbacks. Actually quickly, I would say to the running thing with Jalen, because I'm sure there'll be a lot of talk, and we've talked about it on the pod, about like, well, that's why I didn't run against the Rams, I'm sorry, against the Jaguars, because he was dealing with a blood clad, he was probably thinking about it, all those things. I think that's fair. Now, I will say, I will defend everybody that has been talking about him not running a ton, because it's been over a year. It's not like he didn't run for one game, everybody freaked out, and now it's like, well, he had a blood clad. He hasn't been running for over a year. But still, it would explain for the Jaguars game why maybe he didn't run as much. So there's that. But Jalen and Tanner McKee, two very different quarterbacks. Tanner McKee is not anywhere as close to mobile as Jalen is. And I'm not just talking about from a running perspective in terms of design runs and stuff, I'm talking about avoiding pressure. Jalen does an excellent job on a lot of plays of turning a play that could be a sack into even a one yard loss or a positive gain or a no gain, right? So that's one thing to consider. Tanner is more of a traditional stand in the pocket, boom, boom, boom, get it out. So the game plan on what they want to do does have to change. But the other thing to think about is this. So when I left for London last Tuesday, Lane Johnson was still on the team, Cam Jergens hadn't been traded, and Jalen Hurts was healthy. Now the team that will go on the field on Sunday against the Panthers, will have Tanner McKee at quarterback, will have Damon Pearce at running back, will have no Devante Smith, no Saquon Barkley, they will have no Lane Johnson, no Cam Jergens. I mean, if you think about it, it'll be a team where the only starting player is really Jordan Milata, Dallas Goddard, Don Tavian-Wicks, and if you want to say, Mekhi Lemon. So like four out of 12, if you want to talk about backups or whatever, or three out of 11, however you want to say it, the majority of the team is going to be backups. So the obvious kind of takeaway would be like, this season is falling apart, right? I think they could still beat the Panthers potentially, and we'll get into that closer to the game. But yes, from a morale perspective, this is clearly a blow. They don't have Jalen out there anymore. They don't have Devante, they don't have Saquon, they don't have Lane, they don't have Cam, they don't have like any of these guys, right? So just from a how is this season going perspective, that is obviously a huge blow. Now on Sunday, they will have to play different with Tanner. I think there will be some elements of this where calling some of the plays that are in this offense, like Tanner does get rid of the ball quickly. Tanner's willing to throw the ball over the middle of the field. Those are two things Jalen does not do. But Tanner has also not played a lot of under center. He's not done a lot of under center play action. I'm not sure you'll see them lean into that. But I think you could see different routes. I think you could see different calls. And you'll have to see a different kind of game plan because they're two different quarterbacks. So that'll be for the immediate thing on Sunday. Then there's the long term thing. And again, I understand it feels weird to talk about Jalen's dealing with something, but like this is a reality of sports. So the long term perspective, if Jalen is out multiple weeks, I mean, I guess you stick with Tanner, but like then the season could really fall apart. Like could they beat the Panthers? Maybe the Panthers have a really good offense, but the Eagles have a really good defense. So maybe Tanner can get them to 27 or 24 points and maybe you can win the game. But then you have the Cowboys, right? Cowboys aren't great, but they have a great offense. You could really fall to two and five pretty quickly, I guess in two weeks. But like if they're two and five, then they have to start considering like, what do you do about the season, right? Like, let's say Jalen is out for two weeks, but after two weeks, he's deemed healthy and he's ready to play. Are you putting Jalen back out there with a team that's two and five, probably not going to the playoffs? Like, you could push to try to get to the playoffs. I do think the idea of tanking in the NFL is just never a good idea, unless you're moving on from like everybody and rebuilding the entire culture. But like, you don't want losing to be part of what you do. And like Nick and Jalen have never experienced this. So if they fall to two and five and Jalen misses two games, like what do they do there? Do they put Jalen back in? Do they trade off players? Do they play trade guys like Tariq Willem? Like we had these conversations before Jalen wasn't going to play. And then there's this uncomfortable part of the conversation. What if Tanner's awesome? Like what if Tanner goes in and the offense looks awesome? And the offense looks like more how people expected it to look. And Tanner's really good for two games. Like obviously you go back to Jalen, obviously. But ask Landon Dickerson what happened when he went out, and now it looks like he's not going to get his job back to Willie Lampkin. There was a report from me in Rapaport, it was either earlier day Thursday or late in the day Wednesday, my timings all off, basically saying the Eagles have a decision to make about Jalen at the end of the year. And the unfortunate reality about sports is when you're not there, someone can step in and someone could play where the Eagles go, Tanner's playing better than Jalen. Like let's be real, Jalen's not played well this year. The stats back that up. You can point to almost no stats. So it's like, I hate that this is part of the conversation, but when you think about all the different ways this could play out. Like Jalen, look, Tanner could play on Sunday, play awesome, Jalen could miss one game, Jalen could come back, they could beat the Cowboys on Monday night, they could be four and three, and it's like, you know, everything's great. Or like Jalen could be out the rest of the season for health reasons, and then the season could completely tank. Jalen could be out for three games, Tanner could play awesome, and then there's a tough decision to make. Jalen could be out for three games, Tanner could play terrible, and then it's like, is it even worth putting Jalen back in there? So this definitely really, really complicates things, and it really sets this team up. Whatever you think of Jalen as a quarterback, and I know everyone that listens probably, we've all gone into our corners with Jalen, right? Which is unfortunate, because I think Jalen deserves to be liked by all the fan base, and I think Jalen, having won the Super Bowl, deserves a benefit of doubt, but everyone's in their corners with Jalen. Whatever corner you're in, there could be a lot of different ways this plays out, and they are, in my opinion, a better team with Jalen Hurts. So we'll see. I think that's kind of the scariest part about all this and the uncertainty of it all. For so many years, the Eagles have been certain. They've been 11, 12 wins every year, the playoffs every year, favorites every game. They're home dogs to the Panthers, and that will change a lot, obviously, with this line. So for a long time, the Eagles have been able to lean on, they've been rock solid with this news, with the Lane News, with the Cam Trade, with the Saquon injury, with the Devontae injury. For the first time in a long time, the Eagles are on the shakiest ground they've been in, and when I say we'll see, that's the only thing they can do. They can wait and see what happens with Jalen. They can wait and see how Tanner plays. They can wait and see if they win games. They have, for a long time, been able to count on a lot of things, and that is not the case right now. So we will wait and see as well. We will see next, and it feels like an attorney from now, like next Wednesday if Jalen is able to practice. Maybe there will be a report that he's better, but like he's not playing Sunday. That much is for sure. And so the Eagles coaches that went to practice on Wednesday thinking Jalen will be the quarterback, built a game plan Monday and Tuesday for Jalen being the quarterback, have to pivot. And so it's a scary situation for Jalen personally. It's a scary situ... Well, hopefully it's not scary. Like hopefully they have a good idea on this and he feels okay. But I'm sure it's a lot right now. It's a lot for everybody. And so in a season that's been really rough, this is just another moment where they're going to be tested and things could really fall apart. And they've lost three straight games. Nick's never lost four straight. Because it's also kind of changes like how do you view their season? Like what if Jalen doesn't play again this year and they lose out? Like what do the Eagles do then? Right? Like you have five games of Jalen playing with mostly backups. What do you do with Nick? He's going to have a roster full of backups for a whole year. Can you fire him off of that? Like there's just a lot of really tough decisions to be made here. So we will obviously have a ton of content for you over the next few days. Go Birds! Radio on Saturday, The Daily Pod tomorrow, and any other emergency pods that might take place. So go out, try to enjoy the rest of your day, and we'll talk to you soon. So this has been the Jalen Hurts emergency pod. Until next time, he's Eliot, I'm James. Talk to you guys later.