Hayden Winks Fantasy Analyst Mon, October 19, 2026 at 6:11 PM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jalen Hurts will reportedly miss the rest of the season with deep vein thrombosis as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli after his initial superficial blood clot worsened during and after his game in London. He will need blood thinners, and he can't play contact sports on them.
Reports also said Hurts was hospitalized for scans before the London game. Doctors said the risk was so high that he couldn't sleep for the 36 hours leading up to kickoff. Of course, contact football is more dangerous than sleeping in general, raising the concern of how Hurts was cleared in the first place. Beyond that, not sleeping for 36 hours is risky for contact sports in itself, and long flights increase the risk of blood clots. That's part of the "player health" debate with the NFL playing games overseas.
In general, the NFL, the Eagles and the reporters spinning this as Hurts being tough look bad here given the severity of the situation.
The Eagles will move forward with Tanner McKee at QB for the season. He's played well in spurts when the roster around him was stacked with veterans, but he faces an uphill battle with backups at left guard, center and right tackle. The Eagles have been the worst under center success rate offense in 2026 because the OL isn't creating space on the ground and because their pass protection rules are being exposed by modern defenses. The offense has been almost exclusively reliant on deep shots in the pass game. McKee can spin it, but there's limitations that will not be fixed in 2026.
Eagles GM Howie Roseman is likely looking to trade other expiring contracts beyond center Cam Jurgens, too. On offense, Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert are ripe for trade offers given their age and contracts . On defense, CB Riq Woolen and DT Moro Ojomo are up for grabs. The need to find more future draft capital gets turned up if Hurts is also not in their long-term plans for personal reasons or for financial reasons. He has guaranteed money in 2027 but not beyond. It's rare for teams to enter a contract year with their starting QB, so the Eagles and Hurts are due to chat at the end of the year.
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Hurts' absence has less fantasy impact than you'd think. The Eagles weren't doing as much Tush Pushing with new starters at LG and C, and that won't change with McKee under center.
Saquon Barkley: He was trending towards very clear fantasy RB2 status, and that's probably a best-case scenario coming off injury behind this offensive line. Dameon Pierce will be his backup in the short term with Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley on injured reserve. Pierce was the RB12 on RB12 usage in Week 6 while playing 61-of-64 snaps.
DeVonta Smith: He is the only bankable pass-catcher in fantasy. He was the WR8 on WR8 usage in Week 6 with McKee, running the similar sideline route tree that he was running with Hurts.
D ontayvion Wicks: He is a low-end WR3/FLEX during the bye weeks, but the Eagles will have a team total under 20.0 points more often than not the rest of this season, and Wicks doesn't have the targets of a starter. Wicks is the WR45 on WR53 usage in four games with Smith active and is coming off a 9% target share in Week 6.
Makai Lemon: The rookie isn't making enough plays to hold onto in fantasy. The manufactured touches to him are amongst the worst in the NFL, and he's averaging 3.8 targets per game and a 12% target share with Smith active. I'd rather hold onto an insurance RB in 10- and 12-team leagues.
Dallas Goedert: The veteran is the TE7 on TE21 usage in three games with Smith active, running pure on explosives and touchdowns on concerning underlying usage. As mentioned above, Goedert could be on the trade block as well.
Bottomline: Long story short, the Eagles have been bad on offense, and that's not changing now.
Source: Sports
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