NEW YORK (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles are not being disciplined for how they handled quarterback Jalen Hurts’ blood clots, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because conversations between the league and team were to remain private.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, offered a passionate defense of how the Eagles treated Hurts, following a statement from the league that said officials had been in contact with Philadelphia's medical personnel and the Cleveland Clinic in London throughout the process.
“I have complete confidence in the Eagles’ medical staff and their handling of this situation, and I would characterize their work as very conservative, very patient-focused and appropriately guarded at every step,” Sills said at the league's annual fall meeting. “I don’t think you can take that outcome and say there was something flawed about the process. Sometimes in medicine, we do all the right things and diseases progress and other things develop. ...
“In this case, everyone was incredibly conservative and incredibly vigilant and was very quick to make diagnoses of these conditions that might not have been diagnosed in a nonathlete.”
Hurts is on injured reserve and expected to miss the rest of the season after a blood clot in his left calf traveled to his lungs. The Eagles and agent Nicole Lynn said Monday that Hurts has deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary embolisms.
NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller took issue with “uninformed speculation” reported Monday about Hurts' movements last weekend.
“Jalen Hurts returned to the hotel, slept for a period of time and went to the stadium,” Miller said, estimating that Hurts slept for around seven or eight hours. “Both talking to the Eagles’ staff and making sure from people on the ground, tracking the case, talking to the independent hospital and doctors involved that we have, I think, a complete understanding of the course of events.”
Sills said the league and the players' union study and track blood clots annually. He declined to go into specifics about Hurts' condition, citing patient privacy, and reiterated multiple times that treating a blood clot involves looking at multiple factors.
Dr. Caron Rockman, a vascular surgeon for roughly 30 years, said based on what she has read, there's no evidence the Eagles acted improperly while dealing with what she called not a textbook issue.
“It’s a judgment call,” said Rockman, who is currently a chair at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. “I think it’s really a case-by-case basis. In my personal opinion, superficial vein thrombosis is not a (disqualification) to fly.”
Hurts' treatment moving forward involves blood thinners, and he will not be allowed to participate in any football activities until he is off them.
Hurts played in London against Jacksonville on Oct. 11, three days after informing medical staff of the injury after practice. He was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis.
“I think there was incredible vigilance, there was conservative care, state-of-the-art imaging that was done in London,” Sills said. “And, as far as the timing and the decision-making, I have great confidence in that and believe that everyone acted with an abundance of caution.”
Sills in his opening statement that lasted more than five minutes said all decisions are made with medicine over football.
“The notion that there are external factors or that any of our physicians would put a player in harm’s way — that’s nonsense,” Sills said.
AP Sports Writer David Brandt in Phoenix contributed to this report.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) passes the ball during an NFL football game against Jacksonville Jaguars in London, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Nearly a decade after Boeing unveiled its largest 737 Max jet, the company has cleared a major hurdle in its effort to bring the plane to airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration approved the Max 10 for passenger service Tuesday, ending years of delays.
The 737 Max 10’s certification represents another milestone in Boeing’s efforts to restore its reputation and financial footing after years of safety, quality and production challenges. With production approved, the aircraft can now be sold to domestic and foreign carriers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the certification followed “extensive safety reviews,” including thousands of hours of test flights, and called it a major win for American manufacturing.
“To think that it took us almost 10 years to get here. We all probably had a little less gray hair 10 years ago," Duffy said during a visit to Boeing's manufacturing plant Tuesday in Everett, Washington.
The Max 10 is an important piece of the company's effort to regain ground in the narrow-body market. For airlines, the larger plane offers a way to carry more passengers on a single flight, potentially lowering costs per seat. For travelers, it could eventually mean more seats on popular routes, though the impact on fares will depend on how airlines deploy the planes and how much competition they face.
Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said during Duffy's visit that the certification "clears the path to deliver an airplane that will set a new standard in commercial aviation." The Max 10 will typically seat 185-210 passengers, according to Boeing, compared with 175-195 on the Max 9 and 160-180 on the Max 8.
“Today is a very, very special day. It caps years of hard work and dedication by many," Pope said. "It marks another major milestone in our recovery, and it unlocks a key to our future growth.”
The company expects to begin deliveries in 2027.
The single-aisle jet was introduced at the Paris air show in 2017 to help Boeing compete with rival Airbus. But technical and regulatory hurdles repeatedly delayed certification.
Boeing’s struggles have been particularly acute since two deadly crashes involving the smaller Max 8 killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019 off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia. In 2024, a panel flew off of an Alaska Airlines Max 9 in midair, renewing scrutiny of Boeing’s manufacturing and safety practices.
The delays have held up a key part of Boeing's business. More than 30 customers worldwide have ordered 1,555 Max 10s that Boeing has yet to deliver, accounting for more than 30% of its total 737 Max backlog.
Major customers include United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Ryanair. Alaska Airlines joined that list in January, ordering 105 Max 10s, with options for 35 more.
The Max 10 is intended to compete with Airbus’s A321neo model family, which entered service in 2017. The largest A321neo can carry more passengers and fly farther without refueling than the Max 10.
Still, Boeing designed the Max 10 to carry more passengers while burning less fuel than older aircraft — a potentially attractive combination for airlines facing soaring jet fuel costs amid the U.S. war with Iran. Those rising costs have put added pressure on airlines to control expenses.
Certification means the FAA has determined that the Max 10’s design meets safety standards, following engineering reviews and flight testing. But Boeing must continue to show it can consistently build the aircraft to the approved design, and each plane must be cleared before it can fly passengers.
The Max 10’s certification completes the lineup of four 737 Max models. The FAA cleared the Max 7 for airline operations in August.
Pope on Tuesday described the certification of both the Max 7 and Max 10 in the same year as a sign of the company’s resilience.
In the wake of the fatal Max 8 crashes, the FAA overhauled how it certifies Boeing aircraft. But over the past 18 months, the agency has gradually eased some of its restrictions on the company, increasing the limit on how many planes Boeing can produce. In July, the FAA also said Boeing could once again issue airworthiness certificates for its 737 Max and 787 planes at the end of production, allowing the company to take back some responsibility for determining whether finished aircraft are ready to fly.
FILE - The Boeing 737 MAX 10 performs a demonstration flight during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, June 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
