Roger Goodell says the NFL will not stand in the way of a review of how Jalen Hurts’ blood clot was handled. Closing the owners’ fall meeting in New York on Wednesday, Oct. 21, the commissioner was asked about the NFL Players Association’s call for a full investigation into the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback’s medical care. “We welcome that. That’s part of our processes. That’s fine,” he said.
Goodell added, as Mike Jones relayed: “Our chief medical officer has been through the protocol of what we do, but if that’s what they want to do, we would welcome that.” The answer came less than a day after the union said in a statement that the league had told it there would be no review of Hurts’ care.
Roger Goodell on the @NFLPA’s request for an investigation into the Jalen Hurts situation: “We welcome that.” pic.twitter.com/m67z3DkyjK
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 21, 2026
“Our protocols were incredibly good”
Goodell did not back away from the league’s defense of the Eagles’ doctors. “I think our protocols were incredibly good there,” he said of the diagnosis and the handling of the case, according to Mike Garafolo, and he said the league has the “greatest medical advisors and people that are working on the health of our players.”
That is the same line the league took on Tuesday, when Allen Sills, the chief medical officer, and Jeff Miller, the executive vice president for health and safety, called some of the criticism “uninformed”. Jonathan Jones has reported that the NFL will not punish the Eagles over how they handled the clot or over Hurts carrying no injury designation for the Oct. 11 game in London. Hurts has since been diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis with clots in both lungs and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Goodell’s words leave the next step open. He did not say who would run a review, what it would cover or when it might start, and the NFLPA had not responded publicly to his comments by early Wednesday afternoon in New York.
Jay-Z: “We haven’t announced anything”
Asked about the report that Jay-Z will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show, Goodell kept the door shut for now. “We haven’t announced anything,” he said, according to Mark Maske. Jay-Z plays two concerts at SoFi Stadium, the Super Bowl LXI venue, on Friday and Saturday, and those shows remain the most talked-about moment for a reveal.
Paris: “Very high is my comfort level”
The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints play in Paris on Sunday, and the Saints landed in France on Wednesday. Goodell said he has no doubts about going ahead. “Very high is my comfort level,” he said. “I think we’ll deal with that. We’re involved at the highest levels. … I had a conversation with the Secretary of State. … We’re guests in the country. … We look forward to it. I’m leaving shortly to go myself.” The league has already said it is increasing security around the game.
Officials, York and Tisch
Goodell also backed the recent suspensions of referee Adrian Hill and line judge Jeff Seeman for unprofessional conduct toward players, which the officials’ union has challenged. “We do want accountability of our officials but we also want respect between participants,” he said. Troy Vincent had told the officials on Tuesday that they “crossed the line.”
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York attended the meeting after his six-game suspension under the personal conduct policy ended on Tuesday. “We went through a full process obviously to understand the facts and the issues,” Goodell said, as quoted by Jori Epstein. “We saw a violation and dealt with it. That concluded. He’ll be back representing the 49ers.” Of New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, who was also in the room, Goodell said: “I think we’re comfortable with him participating.”
The new investment fund
On the General Atlantic partnership that owners approved on Tuesday to grow 32 Equity, the league’s investment arm, Goodell said, as Jess Golden reported: “It’s a relationship to look at various investment opportunities for us that we think can benefit the league overall and make us smarter. We’re excited about it. We went through a long process evaluating different firms and different approaches and we think this is the right one for us.”
What is still open
No result had been reported by Wednesday afternoon on two items owners were expected to take up in New York: Jean Eric Salata’s 2.1 percent stake in the Miami Dolphins and the choice of the league’s secondary ticketing partner. On Tuesday, owners approved Arctos’ 7.5 percent stake in the Atlanta Falcons and stadium financing for the Cleveland Browns.
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.