On Friday, NFL Network analyst Michael Robinson made a lot of people angry by suggesting that Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was exaggerating or even faking an injury to get out of playing amid the team’s rough start to the season. But after the latest news, it’s becoming pretty clear that Robinson owes Hurts a serious apology.
“To me, if I’m Jalen Hurts − or anybody in Jalen Hurts’ camp − I’m saying, ‘Well if everybody’s hurt, I’m hurt, too,'” Robinson said. “To me, it looked like Jalen is kind of getting himself out of the fray so that this lost season… he’s pulling himself out so that this doesn’t look like it’s on me.”
But Hurts isn’t dealing with a stomach virus or some kind of injury that instantly gets better the moment a player gets what they want in a contract negotiation. He has a blood clot in his calf that has been confirmed by team ultrasounds and the Eagles’ official medical timeline in conjunction with the NFL.
Not only was Robinson wrong, he was downright disrespectful to Hurts’ character with a remark like that. It’s the kind of statement that someone could easily sue over if they were feeling litigious.
© Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.
Calls to Apologize
NFL insider Josina Anderson was one of many people who called for Robinson to – at the very least – apologize to Hurts over what he said.
“Michael Robinson owes #Eagles QB1 Jalen Hurts a full apology, full stop,” Anderson wrote on X. “The inferred accusations in his rant below are dangerous on several fronts: From implying the #Eagles starting quarterback may be quitting on his team, to Hurts may be overstating an injury since it’s ‘superficial,’ to assuming Hurts’ injury doesn’t need vigilant monitoring for progression in severity because it’s ‘superficial’ —all the while telling us to google it because Hurts’ clot is only ‘superficial.’ Well beyond just Google, I conferred with a medical expert who used to be a prominent doctor in a major city hospital. In general, a superficial blood clot is not entirely isolated from the deeper venous system, and can potentially progress to a deep vein thrombosis through a few specific mechanisms.”
“No apologies! Sue the NFL, they own that network and show,” one user replied on X.
“Michael Robinson needs to not have a job in NFL media. The fact that you can spin a medical issue towards Jalen Hurts hate is beyond unprofessional and disgusting,” wrote another.
“Truly disgraceful from Robinson,” a third wrote.
We can probably expect some kind of apology from Robinson the next time he’s on television (assuming he doesn’t get suspended or fired first).
