Hannah Einbinder, known for her role in “Hacks,” quickly sprang to the defense of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on Monday, pleading with Hurts’ critics on Instagram to lay off the player after the team revealed that he has blood clots in his lungs and will sit out the remainder of the season.
As a big Eagles fan, Einbinder started off her Instagram post with a warm story about Hurts, not only for what he can do on the field but for who he is as a person.
“jalen we love you so much not only because you’re so talented but because of who you are. jalen donated air conditioning units to all the public schools in philly. he has an all female management team and when the eagles won the super bowl he refused to go to the white house. i love him so much he speaks in riddles and ancient proverbs GOD protect this man,” Einbinder wrote.
While a few of the examples she gave are accurate, some are not 100% true. In April 2024, Hurts donated $200,000 to the School District of Philadelphia to install over 300 air conditioning units in 10 public schools, not all of them in the city. Klutch Sports Group, Hurts’ agency, has an all-female leadership team led by his agent, Nicole Lynn. That is pretty rare in the NFL. After helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, and earning MVP, Hurts declined to attend the White House celebration in April 2025; at the time, he said he couldn’t make it because of scheduling conflicts.
On her next Instagram story, Einbinder posted a video of a post from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero on X about how Hurts played through the first stages of his illness.
“How committed is Jalen Hurts to football?” Pelissero wrote. “After initially being diagnosed with a superficial blood clot in London, doctors told him not to sleep as a precaution, so he had been awake for roughly 36 hours when he started against the Jaguars, throwing for 220 yards and a TD.”
Einbinder added: “shut your ass up if you have something bad to say about him, and if you have a problem with jalen you have a problem with ME.”
In a joint statement Monday, the Eagles and Hurts’ agent Lynn explained that specialists in London initially diagnosed Hurts with a superficial vein thrombosis in his left calf. Additional testing discovered that he has a deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, indicating that there are blood clots in both of his lungs.
The statement states that Hurts is clinically stable, has no substantial limitations, and will be treated with blood thinners only. The blood thinners prevent him from participating in any contact activities, including football.
“Jalen’s prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery,” the statement says. The team added that they do not foresee any complications and that Hurts will remain with the team and stay active with conditioning.
The treatment will take at least three months, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter, which will end his season.
Usually, a pulmonary embolism happens when the clot becomes loose, usually coming from a deep vein in the leg, and moves through the bloodstream into the lungs. Blood thinners help stop the clot from getting bigger and from forming others, but they don’t remove the current clot.
Hurts first reported calf problems on Oct. 8, four days after he got stepped on during a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. An ultrasound on Oct. 10 in London after the team’s trip found a small superficial clot, but they decided it was safe for him to play.
An exam the next day found that the clot had moved. The Eagles ruled Hurts out on Oct. 15 and put him on injured reserve on Oct. 17.
With Hurts out, the Eagles’ backup Tanner McKee threw for 215 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers. Philadelphia lost by 11 points. The team has now lost four straight games and has won only two of its six games this season.
Einbinder, 31, is the daughter of one of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live,” Laraine Newman. The actress won the 2025 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Ava Daniels on “Hacks” alongside Jean Smart. The show ended its run this year on HBO Max.
Einbinder often shares her thoughts about the Eagles on her Instagram story and has praised Hurts before. Last year, Einbinder told another Eagles fan, Kylie Kelce, on a podcast that Hurts is “locked in in a way that’s crazy.”
