In January 2018, Alabama coach Nick Saban made a quarterback change that helped deliver a national championship. Jalen Hurts went to the sideline. Freshman Tua Tagovailoa took over, leading Alabama to a 26–23 overtime victory against Georgia.
Eleven months later, their roles reversed. Tagovailoa left the SEC Championship Game with an injury, and Hurts entered to lead Alabama’s comeback against the same opponent.
Their careers would eventually take them to different NFL franchises. In October 2026, the former teammates were connected by a different subject: how the NFL evaluates and reviews decisions about player health.
Tagovailoa’s 2022 concussion evaluation prompted a formal joint review and a change to the league’s concussion protocol. Hurts’ 2026 blood-clot diagnoses have prompted the NFL Players Association to seek an investigation into his medical care. The conditions are different, and the circumstances must not be treated as medically equivalent.
The diagnosis that changed Jalen Hurts’ season
According to an October 15 statement from the Philadelphia Eagles, Hurts told team medical staff on October 8 that he had been cleated in his left calf during an October 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams. The team said this was his first treatment session for that injury.
Following the team’s travel to London, an ultrasound on Saturday, October 10, identified a superficial blood clot. The Eagles said team doctors and physicians in London reviewed the findings, determined Hurts could safely play against the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 11, and recommended a follow-up ultrasound within 72 hours of the game and return flight.
Hurts played in London. The Eagles said he received treatment Monday and Tuesday and practiced Wednesday. A follow-up ultrasound on Wednesday night, October 14, showed movement in the small clot. The team announced October 15 that he would miss the next game while treatment options were considered.
On October 19, the Eagles and Hurts’ agent, Nicole Lynn, announced that further testing and monitoring had established a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli—blood clots in deep veins and in both lungs. They described him as clinically stable, with a very good prognosis and an expectation of full recovery.
The statement said Hurts was receiving anticoagulation, commonly called blood thinners, and would not participate in contact activities, including football, while taking the medication. Reporting indicates he is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season; the team’s statement did not provide a definitive return date.
The sequence of diagnoses warrants scrutiny, but it does not by itself prove that a prior medical decision was negligent. The public statements do not disclose Hurts’ full clinical record or establish that the originally identified superficial clot caused the later pulmonary emboli.
The players’ union wants answers
The NFL has defended the medical care and said the Eagles would not be disciplined over their handling of Hurts’ condition. League medical officials said they were in communication with the Eagles and London physicians and expressed confidence in the process.
The NFLPA took a different position. In an October 20 statement, the union said it was not aware of a league investigation and had been told that the NFL did not plan to review the care Hurts received. The union called for a full investigation before conclusions were drawn.
On October 21, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league welcomed a review while maintaining that established protocols had been followed. That is the disagreement: the NFL says the process was appropriate; the union wants a more comprehensive examination of what happened.
As of this report’s October 22 publication, no publicly released independent investigation has established medical wrongdoing by the Eagles’ staff. A request for review is not a finding of misconduct.
Alabama’s other quarterback and the precedent from 2022
On September 25, 2022, Tagovailoa appeared unsteady after a hit during a Miami Dolphins game against the Buffalo Bills. He was evaluated and permitted to return. Four days later, in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he suffered another head injury that required emergency medical attention.
The NFL and NFLPA reviewed the September 25 evaluation. Their joint October 8 findings concluded that the required steps of the concussion protocol had been followed, but the result did not reflect the protection the protocol was designed to provide.
The league and union then added ataxia—neurologically caused abnormalities in balance, stability, coordination or speech—to the mandatory symptoms that prohibit return to play.
That review showed that compliance with written procedures can coexist with a need to improve the procedures themselves. It does not establish that Hurts’ separate blood-clot care involved the same kind of problem.
When the protocol is followed
Medical clearance is a clinical judgment made with information available at a particular time. A subsequent complication does not automatically establish that the earlier decision was wrong. Nor should the existence of a clearance end a legitimate examination of whether the risks were appropriately assessed.
For Hurts, the questions include the initial ultrasound findings, the decision to permit him to play, the follow-up imaging schedule, and the medical considerations around international travel. Assessing those questions responsibly would require medical information and professional reasoning not fully available to the public.
The NFL has expressed confidence in the care provided. The NFLPA believes the matter warrants a fuller investigation. Any findings from a future review should be evaluated on their own merits.
The connection that began in Tuscaloosa
Hurts and Tagovailoa shared an Alabama quarterback room and contributed to championship victories in different moments. Hurts later completed his college career at Oklahoma, while Tagovailoa remained at Alabama until entering the NFL.
Their professional careers and medical histories should not be treated as interchangeable. Their shared history instead offers a lens for asking a broader question about player safety: when a league says its protocol was followed, is that enough to determine whether the protection was adequate?
Tagovailoa’s 2022 case shows why reviewing the rules themselves can matter. Hurts’ 2026 case presents an opportunity to examine the same general principle without presuming the same outcome.
For now, the priority is Hurts’ recovery and a fair, evidence-based examination of the medical decisions. Medical clearance determines whether a player may take the field. It should not prevent legitimate questions about whether the system worked as intended.
Sources and further reading
- Philadelphia Eagles — October 15 statement
- Philadelphia Eagles and Nicole Lynn — October 19 update
- Associated Press — NFLPA request and league response, October 20
- NFL / Associated Press — Goodell’s October 21 comments
- NFLPA — October 8, 2022 joint concussion protocol findings
- NCAA — Alabama’s 2018 national championship
Photo credits and reuse rights
Jalen Hurts, January 2018 media day: Thomson200, CC0 public-domain dedication. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama 2018: The University of Alabama, CC BY 3.0 Unported, sourced from an Alabama Athletics video. Both images are presented in a two-column editorial composition (layout modification); no suggestion of endorsement is intended.
- Jalen Hurts photo and CC0 terms
- Tua Tagovailoa photo and licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence
Reporting status: October 22, 2026. Originally published October 22, 2026. This article will be updated with a dated change note if material new findings emerge.