Jalen Hurts Is Out With A Blood Clot. Yesterday We Called His Full Practice Good News.

Friends, Wednesday's Eagles practice report listed Jalen Hurts as a full participant with a calf injury. Yesterday morning this site printed both halves of that line and called it "good news for anybody starting an Eagle." The sentence lasted until 11:59 a.m. Central

That is when Rapoport posted the Eagles' statement. Hurts is out for Sunday's game against the Panthers with a superficial blood clot in his calf. Tanner McKee starts. Hurts's health comes first, ahead of every lineup decision in this article.

What The Eagles Put In Writing

By the team's account, Hurts told the medical staff he had been cleated in the Rams game on Oct. 4, and his first treatment for the calf came after practice on Thursday, Oct. 8. He practiced in full that Friday and was added to the practice report.

After the flight to London, an ultrasound found a superficial blood clot. The medical staff and doctors in London, the statement says, "concluded that activity and mobility were important and that Jalen could safely play." He "played without limitation in the game Sunday" and practiced in full again Wednesday.

Doctors had recommended a follow-up ultrasound within 72 hours of the game and the flight home. On Wednesday night, per the team, it "revealed movement in the small blood clot."

Pelissero reports that doctors are determining "the proper course of treatment for a small blood clot in his calf." Rapoport wrote that Hurts is out "until his medical situation is solved." Later he described Hurts as "out indefinitely". Nothing I read includes a timetable for his return.

Who Plays Sunday, As Of Friday Morning

Tanner McKee, for one. Berman reports that Hurts turned to him Thursday and said, "Looks like you’re going to be the guy this week."

Before Thursday's report, Schefter wrote that the Eagles will be without Hurts "and quite possibly Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith" on Sunday. McLane's report then had Barkley (hamstring), Hurts (calf) and Will Shipley (foot) sitting out Thursday, with Smith limited (hamstring/toe).

Garafolo noted Smith's upgrade to limited and wrote, "Still hearing optimism he’ll play Sunday. We’ll see." He added that Barkley "remains sidelined." Friday's practice had not been reported when I filed this, so watch it before you set a lineup.

We Heard The Noise And Kept Driving

The calf had been on the report since the Friday before London. Fantasy managers have a habit with a line like that: we read full participant as an all-clear and treat the body part beside it as a footnote.

Yesterday this site printed the calf and called it good news anyway. Every mechanic has met the customer who heard the noise under the hood and kept driving because the car still started. This week the customer was us. I own half of this site, so I am one of the people who should have known better.

A rule for the next time a report says full: read the whole line, because the body part counts as much as the participation word.

Full tells you he practiced. Calf tells you why he was on the report in the first place.

In fairness to us and to everybody else, nobody outside the building could have known about a clot, and the team says the London doctors cleared him to play. The tag only told us the calf was not done yet. That alone was reason to wait for the rest of the week before calling anything good news.

McKee has believers, too. Matthew Berry posted, "I LIKE Tanner McKee." Jordan Mailata praised his poise and energy and said, per Berman, "He's absolutely ready for this." Mike Clay supplies the sober count: McKee "has played 2 full NFL games and both were Week 18 with backups".

Chief, I believe the capital letters and the left tackle. Mike Clay's count is the part I can measure. Indefinitely is a word with no number in it, and I save real waiver money for a role with a known length.

What I Am Doing About It

1. Hurts goes to my bench and stays on my roster. Dropping him would answer a question the doctors are still working on.
2. McKee is a superflex or two-quarterback dart and nothing more. If he is on your wire and you have an empty slot in those formats, claim him. In one-quarterback leagues, I leave him alone.
3. DeVonta Smith is a Friday decision. He was limited Thursday, and Garafolo is hearing optimism. Have another receiver ready. If Smith practices Friday and his line on the report does not get any longer, he starts for me.
4. Yesterday's Saquon plan stands. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, and Berman's potential lineup for Sunday lists Dameon Pierce at running back. Unless Saquon is a full participant Friday, Pierce starts for me. Shipley sat Thursday too, so he stays on my bench.
5. In dynasty, I do not sell Hurts into a scare. A health question with no timetable is the worst time to name a price. Let the doctors talk first.

Garafolo called this "A Murphy’s Law kind of season in Philly." I was raised on Browns football, and in Cleveland, Murphy has had season tickets since before I was born.