NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell weighed in on the controversy over medical care received by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who accused the Kansas City Chiefs’ medical staff of inadequately treating an eye injury he sustained during Week 1’s Ravens-Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium.
Howell cited the Collective Bargaining Agreement as he voiced support for Van Noy, who said on a podcast this week it took the Chiefs’ in-house ophthalmologist more than a quarter to see him for what turned out to be a fractured orbital bone. During NFL games, the home team typically makes its ophthalmologist—and several other specialists—available to visitors.
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The NFLPA head told reporters at Ravens’ headquarters on Thursday that the alleged delay shouldn’t have been allowed to happen under league rules. The NFL’s current CBA says players are entitled to “high quality medical care appropriate to their needs as elite professional football players consistent with professional standards for the industry.”
Howell said his organization has “made the necessary parties aware of how we’ve got to improve, and I’m sure we will improve.”
The NFL league office took issue with Van Noy’s and Howell’s comments.
“It’s disappointing the NFLPA would publicize unsupported conclusions without attempting to understand the facts,” spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement. “We have reviewed the case with the Chiefs’ and Ravens’ medical staffs and are comfortable he received appropriate care.”
The Chiefs did not respond to request for comment.
Player injuries and how they’re handled by the NFL and the NFLPA are back in the spotlight after Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion Thursday night from a collision with Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Tagovailoa has a long history of head injuries—he was diagnosed with multiple concussions in 2022—prompting renewed concern about brain trauma in football.
Van Noy said on his McCoy and Van Noy podcast that he felt fortunate to avoid a more severe injury when a jumble of bodies that included Patrick Mahomes and Nnamdi Madubuike landed on him, resulting in the linebacker “having the top pad of my helmet in my eye smashing the ground.”
“The ground is undefeated,” Van Noy said.
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