🏈 Birds without Hurts | Sports Daily Newsletter

Crushing news landed Monday morning that Jalen Hurts could miss the remainder of the 2026 season after medical testing revealed multiple blood clots in his lungs.

The franchise quarterback is stable and has no significant functional limitations, but he has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and “bilateral pulmonary emboli.”

How could something like this happen? That’s a question we still don’t — and might never — know the answer to, but we have learned some details about the timeline beforehand.

Hurts reported to the Eagles that he had taken a cleat to the calf in the team’s Week 4 loss to the Rams. He then practiced the next day and flew with them to London overnight. However, Hurts had minimal sleep and was awake late into the morning hours at a London hospital before playing in last Sunday’s game.

He is expected to make a full recovery and his treatment will only require blood thinners, during which he will not be allowed to participate in any contact activities. Health reporter Kayla Yup spoke to local experts about what Hurts’ diagnosis means.

With the 28-year-old quarterback expected to be out for the year, many players and fans took to social media to wish him a speedy recovery. It will be an uphill battle to win games without Hurts in 2026. David Murphy considers some options on how the team might proceed.

— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The Phillies are going to be hit with some major changes next season. But the outfield is in an all-too-familiar stasis. Once again, the Phillies have not found a reliable, everyday corner outfielder.

With a looming labor dispute, there could be a frenzy to sign players before the expected lockout begins. Lochlahn March gives us a breakdown of the Phillies’ outfield outlook in 2027 and beyond.

🔎 Analyzing: Where the coaches and media placed La Salle and St. Joe’s basketball teams in the A-10 preseason polls.

🏈 Learning: After Temple fell to Charlotte this weekend, the Owls parted ways with their defensive line coach.

🤔 Wondering: What folks are saying about Hurts’ health and Nick Sirianni’s future in Philly following their loss to Carolina.

🎧 Listening: Jeff McLane and Marcus Hayes share their reaction about how the Birds handled Hurts’ situation.

LeBron James has instantly transformed the Sixers into the subject of immense intrigue ahead of Tuesday’s opening night against the New York Knicks (7 p.m., NBC10, Peacock). They have the most national television games allowed for one team and skyrocketing ticket prices to step inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.

This was James’ “final decision” to play what’s likely to be the closing chapter of his legendary career here, and he’s already bringing a championship blueprint to Philly, writes Gina Mizell.

But where does Joel Embiid fit in all this? He’s still an essential piece to the team — and a healthy Embiid means the best version of the Sixers.

In other news, the Sixers frontcourt depth will be thin against the Knicks, with Dominick Barlow missing at least two weeks with a lower back injury.

Now let’s have some fun: Rather than asking so-called basketball experts how the Sixers might fare in the upcoming 2026-27 season, we instead turned to a potentially more authoritative source: NBA 2K27.

Heading into a matchup with the Colorado Avalanche, who ranks second in the NHL in goals per game, the Flyers recalled forwards Alex Bump and Cole Knuble from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

Bump, who started the year with the Flyers, had scored seven goals in five games for the Phantoms. Knuble has yet to make his NHL debut, but that changed on Monday night.

Matvei Michkov scored twice and Trevor Zegras had three assists in the Flyers’ 3-2 win over the Avalanche, their second straight victory after going winless in the first nine games.

Jalen Hurts now faces a medical issue that threatens his life, and could linger as a threat if and when it is resolved in the short term. Nothing matters more than preserving his health. Which begs the question: Did the Eagles protect Hurts enough the past few days? Yes, according to two medical sources, writes Marcus Hayes.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff Neiburg, Olivia Reiner, Jeff McLane, Marcus Hayes, David Murphy, Jackie Speigel, Lochlahn March, Gina Mizell, Chris Hine, Ariel Simpson, Conor Smith, Kayla Yup, David Gambacorta, and Mike Livingston.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

That’s it from me this week! It’s good to be back after being out on vacation. Kerith will be in your inbox tomorrow. — Bella