Five weeks since Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts played a game in London with a blood clot in his leg, the NFL Players Association and the NFL have yet to begin an official investigation into the situation.
As noted Friday by ESPN’s Tim McManus, the league and union are still working out “to hammer out the parameters” of the investigation.
That hasn’t stopped the NFL from providing some preliminary information to Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), who concerns previously expressed about the situation in a letter to the league.
“As outlined by the league and the NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, mutually agreed-upon independent medical experts will review the matter and share their findings and recommendations with both parties,” NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs and health policy Jeff Miller said in a statement released by Blunt’s Rochester office on Friday.
It is still unclear how the investigation will proceed or what it will bring. The NFLPA has yet to invoke its absolute right to initiate an investigation under Article 39 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement while communications with the league continue.
The ensuing delay is approaching “head scratching” status. With matches being played every Thursday, Sunday and Monday, there is a constant risk of a similar situation arising. The sooner the Hurts situation is properly explored and any lessons learned from it put into action, the sooner all players will benefit from any improved defense.
The Eagles and the league generated widespread skepticism about whether a cover-up was taking place. (The NFL may not appreciate what was said, but that doesn’t make the perception incorrect.) The NFLPA cannot afford to be seen as complicit in an effort to sweep the incident under the rug.
Through it all, the most effective investigative process comes from the judicial process, an adversarial process that aims to get to the truth. Whatever happens as far as Hurts is concerned, the only goal should be to get to the truth about why it all happened – and how it can be prevented from happening again.