By Brandon Simmons
The Fallout from the Jalen Hurts Blood Clot
The Jalen Hurts blood clot story keeps growing into an unfortunate situation. Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles announced the QB will be out for the season after it was discovered he had multiple blood clots in his lung. This comes a day after he missed the game against the Carolina Panthers for a superficial blood clot discovered while in London. It has been a long and controversial road to this point.
There are many twists and turns to this story. According to ESPN, the first blood clot appeared when Hurts was cleated after a game against the Los Angeles Rams. He told the team medical staff after practice in Philadelphia and returned the next day before the Eagles departed for London. In London they did some tests on it and discovered the superficial blood clot, which reportedly took until 3 a.m. the day of the Eagles game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After the game, Hurts did another test and they found movement of the blood clot, which led to him being ruled out for this past Sunday’s game. The latest test showed there are now multiple blood clots in his lungs.
For the Eagles’ sake they better be on their P’s and Q’s because a lot can be at stake here. Having Hurts go out and play after a serious ailment such as this was proven to be a risk not worth the reward. It’s hard to say who pushed for him to be out there, and in the article, it says that the initial treatment for the superficial blood clot was for plenty of activity and moving around. Perhaps him sleeping in, then napping made things slightly worse but that is probably when the medical staff should’ve gauged that again and said something. As a dual threat QB, he’s likely moving around more than most QB’s and might’ve relied on that for his activity. In addition to that, they have lost their QB for the season and almost assuredly, their postseason chances. The Eagles were already off to a rough start and without their franchise QB, they can probably kiss their season goodbye.
In a long term perspective, there could be some internal and external things to look at. Internally, you have to wonder if how this can affect Jalen Hurts’ psyche. Right now, we don’t know who or what granted him a greenlight to play in that London game, but if he sat out of it, there is a probably a different conversation to be had. However, if you were to assume that the medical staff truly pushed him then some wold assume this could plant a seed in his head to distrust this organization with his future. Outside of the organization, the NFL should certainly eview this situation and see here things fell apart, if that was the case. Usually when something like this happens, here’s always a story or two about another team doing similar things, so at least monitoring what happened in this instance will prepare for any future mishas anywhere else. But at the very least, this should be reviewed to ensure whatever mistakes there we, don’t happened again with the Eagles or anywhere else.
Chris Ballard Fired as GM
The Indianapolis Colts have closed the book on the Chris Ballard era. the Colts have fired the General manager just 6 games into his 10th season. It was a tenure marked by a lot of positive headlines football-wise, Ballard was hired as GM n 2016. Since then, the Colts have only made the postseason twice – 2018 and 2020 –but have never won the division.
Through the years, Ballard has experienced ups and down with the roster. His most notable headline might be when Colts QB Andrew Luck retired from the Colts during a preseason game. That left him searching for a QB drastically to replace Luck, no such luck. Names such Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers (twice) and Matt Ryan all stood under center but couldn’t sustain the longevity needed. He took a chance and drafted Anthony Richardson with the number 3 overall pick , until Richardson eventually fizzled out and was replaced by another QB cast off in Daniel Jones. Jones seemed like he had promise, leading the team to a 8-2 record, but an Achilles injury shut him down as well as the Colts playoff hopes. Jones did come back, but so did the losing. Outside of that, his best picks were probably Colts guard Quentin Nelson and Colts running back Johnathan Taylor. The QB position absolutely killed Ballard’s job. Just looking at that lit of names, all of those guys were either journeymen, washed up or, in Richardson’s case, too big of a project to really take care of. Nelson and Taylor are obviously are the prizes here, but you also have to mention Sauce Gardner in this instance. Last season, the Colts gave up two first round picks for him, and the results ROI has not lived up to what is expected.
Firing a General Manager is always a signal for more changes Usually when a GM is fired, the pressure is now on the coaching staff to get things right. Even then, it’s really about them auditioning for the new GM who may have their own direction for things to go. This also might bring more attention to Colts CEO and principle owner Carlie Irsay -Gordon’s presence on the sideline with that headset. Listening to what is going on during the game and getting an understanding for how things operate on the field could have led to Ballard’ dismissal as well. Maybe it was an observation of what was needed or what was lacking for this team to e successful.
Did Bo Nix Disrespect the QB Position?
Former NFL QB Ryan Fitzpatrick gave an interesting review on Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix. Fitzpatrick, an analyst for Thursday Night Football on Amazon, criticized Nix’s play, proclaiming it to be uncompetitive and disrespectful the quarterback position. He used examples of Nix’s total game yardage, which was 93 passing yards at one point, but also pointed to key play where he missed throws, particularly a check down in the 4th quarter. While this observation did produce a hilarious back and fort between Fitzpatrick and former Denver Bronco Aqib Talib, it also proved to be a very interesting take.
Fitzpatrick made some good points with his observation, but it might be a bit of a reach. When it comes to the numbers, Nix isn’t going to blow you away with passing yards on most starts. The rushing yards haven’t been really that astounding this season either. But the one thing remains is he has been a winner. He’s been to the playoffs each of his first 2 seasons and led some huge comebacks last year. That is definitely not disrespectful or uncompetitive. However, that probably doesn’t take away from some technique issues that can be worked out, which might explain the low production. These same techniques was also brought up by former Denver Bronco Mark Schlereth in video posted to X (Twitter). Remember, Broncos offensive coordinator Davis Webb has come under fire for his handling of the offense, which led to Broncos head coach Sean Payton taking over. Still, after 2 games, it doesn’t look like things have changed much for the better. In fact, while known for their comebacks last season, Denver blew a 14-3 lead in the 4th quarter to force overtime this past week in their win over the Seattle Seahawks. This Broncos defense is great and will be a main catalyst for a lot of so Nix should make sure his play isn’t disrespectful to their efforts.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Tennessee Titans for getting their.1st win of the season. The Titans overcame a 13 point deficit at halftime to beat the Indianapolis Colts 26-20. This performance included a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown by Titans defensive end Oluwafemi Oladejo.
Shut out to C.J. Gardner Johnson for spitting on a player. Sunday, in the Buffalo Bills win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Johnson was ejected after being caught spitting on a Raiders players following an on-field back and forth. Johnson did end up apologizing for his actions.
Week 7 is here as we move closer to the mid point of the season. The game of the week will be the New England Patriots visiting the Chicago Bears. Both teams are coming off big wins but also welcoming back key players. Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown returned from injured reserve this past week, while the Bears welcomed back QB Caleb Williams from IR as well. Both players’ presence should provide a spark as each team builds their own playoff hopes up. But until then…I’ll holla.
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