Jason Kelce calls out ‘negligent’ takes on Jalen Hurts’ blood clots and more from ‘New Heights’
The brothers also discussed the “very winnable” NFC East … and a possible pound cake eating contest in Philly?
Jason Kelce is weighing in on Jalen Hurts’ blood clot situation, too.
On Tuesday’s episode of New Heights, Jason and his brother Travis Kelce discussed what Travis called a “terrifying” health issue that could sideline the Eagles quarterback for the rest of the season.
The brothers also looked at what this means for the rest of the Eagles season coming off a 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers, and other, more fun things to come in Philly.
‘A warrior in Philadelphia’
Armchair Expert may be the name of another popular podcast, but that wasn’t who Jason was calling out. Instead, he was calling out the nonmedical experts who were giving their insight into Hurts’ blood clot situation and said spreading misinformation and assigning blame to be “a little bit negligent.”
» READ MORE: A.J. Brown offers well-wishes to former Eagles teammate Jalen Hurts
Jason, did, however, say he understands why people are demanding answers and why the Eagles are sticking to their statement to make sure they’re handling the situation appropriately.
“If there’s one thing I will vouch for, I’ll vouch for Nick Sirianni in this, and I’ll vouch for the doctor,” said Jason, who played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Eagles. “The doctors that I know that work with the Eagles treated me phenomenally in my time in Philadelphia. I don’t know what the proper procedure is. It does seem like the Eagles followed a protocol for superficial blood clots, and unfortunately this thing developed, whether it was a result of Jalen playing in the game or whether it was a result of these flights. I have no idea now. It looks terrible because of what ended up resulting.”
Jason was in the booth as an analyst for the Eagles’ game against the Jaguars in London, in which Hurts reportedly played after being awake for 36 hours and being diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg. From the booth, Jason said the uncertainty on Hurts’ condition was clear, with him not being on the field until right before the game, and a general sense of ambiguity on if the calf injury was worse than reported.
While everyone waits for more information to come to light, the brothers wished Hurts well on his recovery, while Jason praised him for constantly being “a warrior in Philadelphia.”
» READ MORE: This Eagles Pro Bowl QB quit football at 27 and still suffers from PTSD. He has a message for Jalen Hurts
‘It’s not good right now’
If you ask Jason, the NFC East is still very winnable, but that doesn’t mean much.
Although he’s making an effort to not use the word “we” on Monday Night Football, he had no problem speaking for the Eagles and their fans, saying he doesn’t expect anyone is “going to be happy” if the Eagles sneak into the playoffs due to the rest of the NFC East being weak.
However, when Travis presented the scenario of the Eagles sneaking in and getting healthy, Jason said that is a “different thing,” and either way, the season is not lost yet.
“It is not good right now, but there are guys that are going to get healthy,” Jason said. “We’re going to get Saquon Barkley back. We’re going to get Tank Bigsby back. … Hopefully with more reps with the offensive line, they will be getting a better cohesion and we’ll be on the same page better. I think Tanner McKee, obviously, in his first start had some good plays, didn’t play great, had a lot of pressure at times. Hopefully he can continue to develop into a rhythm now with Jalen out for a substantial time.”
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If the defense continues to be top-tier, the offense doesn’t have to be stellar to have a shot, Jason said. And they still have time to turn things around.
“With every loss, it gets less and less optimistic,” Jason said. “But I still think they have good players in that building and you just got to — listen, it’s going to take work. It’s going to take these coaches, these players, everybody coming together to continue to take care of the things that are controllable.”
Pound cake eating contests?
Travis and the Chiefs continued their undefeated run with a 22-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, but the biggest story to come out of the weekend was the New Heights tailgate, hosted outside of Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
But don’t worry, Philly fans. Jason wouldn’t forget his home. The next New Heights tailgate will take place in Philly in November.
He and Travis brainstormed ideas for activities that could take place during the tailgate, including some form of an “eating competition.” But Jason’s been around long enough to know cheesesteaks are “too stereotypical,” instead looking for something more creative.
» READ MORE: Darth Vader will interview a player after the Eagles-Cowboys game. He finds your lack of faith disturbing.
“Philadelphia could do like a Stock’s pound cake eating competition,” Jason said. “That actually might be electric.”
He also floated the idea of a roast pork eating competition, but it didn’t elicit the same excitement as the pound cake ideas.
Travis suggested greased pole climbing, but for liability issues, the 92% might have to skip that one.
The news keeps getting worse. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will likely miss the rest of the 2026 season with a deep vein thrombosis blood clot, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli. Moments after the story broke, The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Marcus Hayes reacted to the news, looking at what the diagnosis means for the Super Bowl MVP, how the Eagles handled the situation dating back to their trip to London, and whether backup Tanner McKee is ready to take the helm on a full-time basis. Listen here.
Listen to all episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts.
