October 20, 2026

The Eagles' culture is in the toilet

Jalen Hurts' blood clot status brought on questions that Nick Sirianni wasn't prepared to answer, amid an Eagles season that's already a disaster.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Nick Sirianni repeatedly said he isn't a medical expert, but no one else from the Eagles was lining up to answer questions in the wake of Jalen Hurts' escalated blood clot diagnosis.

Nick Sirianni was put in front of a camera Monday afternoon, alone and without answers, either because he didn't have them or wasn't interested in giving them to a digitally assembled row of curious and pressing reporters.

Earlier in the day, the Eagles and Jalen Hurts' agent, Nicole Lynn, released a statement explaining that the star quarterback's superficial blood clot, which the team already knew he had while playing the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, had been further evaluated and re-diagnosed as a far more serious case of "deep vein thrombosis, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli" – or to sum it up, clots were found in Hurts' lungs, too.

Hurts was said to be going on blood thinners as part of his treatment and can't be put at any risk of contact while he is on them as a result, which effectively ends his season – a season that, collectively for the Eagles, is rapidly going down the drain.

But the statement co-released by Lynn and the Eagles Monday morning also brought on an ensuing wave of speculation, rumors, odd follow-up reports, and among so many Eagles fans, anger.

How on earth was Hurts allowed to get on a plane to and from London, with the team knowing the clot was there? How was he deemed safe to play last Sunday in London? And even more so, how did he ever see the field when one report threw out there that he was possibly sleep-deprived from being up all of the night before while getting the issue treated at a London hospital? (a report that was later dialed back with the note that Hurts was able to sleep at the stadium prior to kickoff.)

How did Hurts go from "superficial" and relatively OK, to out against Carolina this past Sunday but not going on injured reserve, to on injured reserve, and then having the clot reach his lungs to the point where his immediate health off the field took the far greater and immediate priority?

And ultimately, the biggest question nearly everyone had pointed at the Eagles was this: How did they fumble this so badly?

Sirianni, as the Eagles' head coach, is slated to speak to the press through a video call every Monday after a game.

This past Monday, he stayed on schedule – albeit about a half-hour late, probably because of the Hurts news – and was left in the unfortunate spot of being the immediate lightning rod for the entire situation.

He didn't have anywhere close to a satisfactory explanation, refusing to touch on how Hurts was deemed safe to play, how he was ruled safe to get on a plane, or even how Hurts was currently doing.

"Guys, I've addressed this," Sirianni said, visibly irritated after being pressed about Hurts' situation for several straight questions and follow ups right from the start of the call. "I've talked to you guys about this. Again, the medical experts are there, and I think I've answered this question multiple times. We put out a statement for you guys to hear, put out multiple statements for you guys to hear. And so I told you guys last week that I was gonna leave it at that, of where we were on that, because we put out a detailed statement for guys to hear and to understand."

"I fully trust the people that are involved and helping us all make these decisions," he added. "We have great people here."

But to be fair to Sirianni, this was a true no-win situation for him.

Nick Sirianni had quite the awkward press conference today

(via @big_business_)pic.twitter.com/KGxUeFc5sF
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) October 19, 2026

No amount of looping platitudes about "togetherness" was going to bail him out of this – it doesn't even bail him out of criticism for a woefully inept offense that isn't covered for by elite talent at just about every position anymore.

And really, he isn't the outright authority to ask about it either.

But he was the only immediate one to ask, and he was all alone.

General manager Howie Roseman wasn't there, neither was owner Jeffrey Lurie, or head athletic trainer Tom Hunkele, or anyone from the Eagles' medical staff who would be better qualified to talk about exactly what is going on with Hurts.

And the likelihood is that none of them will make themselves available. Additionally, on Tuesday, The Athletic reported that the Eagles won't be receiving any punishment from the NFL for how it handled Hurts' medical process, so the organization likely won't want to invite any conversation on the matter beyond that.

So Sirianni got hung out to dry, amid a year that's already getting well away from him and his team, who before this, always had the playoffs as their absolute minimum floor, and with Hurts there for every step of the way.

Eric Canha/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie aren't likely to speak on Jalen Hurts' situation.

But now Hurts is out indefinitely, with his overall health taking center stage before he can even think about possibly playing quarterback again, and all amid a blood clot diagnosis that the Eagles don't seem willing to offer any clarity toward for how they arrived at this severe of a stage this week.

Lane Johnson, the franchise's best-ever offensive lineman and key veteran stalwart, retired.

Cam Jurgens, once positioned as the long-term successor to Jason Kelce at center, was traded to Baltimore a day later.

And what's left is a team that's so severely banged up (even before you get to Hurts), has lost four straight while only looking increasingly aimless, and with Jordan Mailata as the new elder statesman of the offensive line openly acknowledging successive weeks from hell and that he's struggling to hold the room together.

Once upon a time, and really not all that long ago, the Eagles prided themselves on their internal culture, and on the idea that there was no better place in the NFL to be.

But right now it's the middle of the week, going into Week 7 of the 2026 season.

The Eagles are 2-4, and they're probably only going to keep crumbling from here, with who they've been fielding and with the way they've been playing.

Sirianni's job security might be evaporating, especially since he was the one essentially sent to walk the plank in light of the Hurts news.

And as for Hurts, a full recovery is expected, but who knows for sure when he'll be back in uniform again. The most important thing for him right now is that he's OK.

As for the Eagles' culture, that looks in the toilet.