A United States senator has joined the push for answers about Jalen Hurts’ blood clots. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Delaware Democrat, sent a letter to Roger Goodell dated Wednesday, Oct. 21, asking the NFL to explain how it detects, prevents and treats blood clots, and whether it will review how the Philadelphia Eagles handled their quarterback’s case.
“I write to better understand the circumstances that led to Mr. Hurts’ outcome, as unique risk factors may predispose football players to blood clots,” she wrote. Tim McManus first shared the two-page letter on Wednesday evening.
U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware has penned a letter to Roger Goodell seeking answers on the circumstances that led to JalenHurts developing deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli as well as clarity on league blood clot protocol. pic.twitter.com/XCa8O4DUnq
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) October 21, 2026
The five questions
Blunt Rochester asked the league to respond to five questions:
- Does the NFL have a league-wide protocol for the detection, prevention and treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and which medical guidelines were used to build it?
- What standards govern a player’s clearance to take part when a clot is suspected or diagnosed, and is there a league-wide return-to-participation protocol?
- What education do players, athletic trainers and coaches get on spotting the signs of the condition?
- What has the league done to reduce blood clot risk, including the risk from long flights?
- Will the league thoroughly review the Eagles’ handling of this case, including who cleared Hurts to play after staying awake overnight and who cleared him to fly back across the Atlantic from London, and on what timeline?
She also asked for a briefing for her office and for members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The letter asks for information and a review. It does not open a formal Senate investigation.
“This is deeply personal to me”
The senator explained why the issue matters to her. Her husband, Charles Rochester, tore his Achilles tendon playing pickup basketball, and blood clots traveled to his heart and lungs. He died at 52. “I am deeply relieved that Mr. Hurts’s story did not end the way my husband’s did,” she wrote. “The NFL’s influence and reach offer a vital opportunity to turn this tragedy into a force for preventing lost lives both in sports and outside of it.” She has backed blood clot prevention legislation in Congress named after him.
Where the Hurts case stands
Hurts was cleated in the calf in the Eagles’ Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Specialists in London found a superficial clot the night before the Oct. 11 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he played. Further tests later showed deep vein thrombosis and clots in both lungs. He is on blood thinners, is expected to make a full recovery and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
The letter lands on top of the NFL Players Association’s call for a full investigation. The league has defended the Eagles’ doctors: on Tuesday, chief medical officer Allen Sills called some of the criticism “uninformed,” and Jeff Miller, the executive vice president for health and safety, disputed a report that Hurts had been awake for more than 30 hours before the game, saying he went back to the team hotel and slept for about seven or eight hours. On Wednesday, Goodell said the league would “welcome” a review while insisting that “the protocols were followed.”
The NFL had not responded publicly to the senator’s letter as of early Thursday.
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