Ravens Linebacker Received ‘Appropriate Care’ After Claiming Chiefs Were ‘Unprofessional,’ NFL Says

The NFL has responded after Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy said he was “disappointed” by the medical care he received for an eye injury sustained at a road game in Kansas City, Mo..

In a statement issued to the Associated Press on Thursday, Sept. 12, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, “It’s disappointing the NFLPA would publicize unsupported conclusions without attempting to understand the facts.”

McCarthy said the league has “reviewed the case with the Chiefs’ and Ravens’ medical staffs” and are “comfortable he received appropriate care,” in the statement.

The 33-year-old Baltimore linebacker sustained an injury to his eye during the first week of the new NFL season on Sept. 5. After the game at Arrowhead Stadium, Van Noy took to his podcast to express his disappointment with the Chiefs’ staff for how they handled their opponent’s injury.

Van Noy told listeners of McCoy and Van Noy that he was “supposed to see an ophthalmologist” after the hit to his eye.

“When you get hurt, especially something that can be serious like mine was, you’re supposed to rely on the team’s training staff or their doctors,” he explained.

According to NBC Sports, Van Noy fractured his orbital bone during the game.

The linebacker claimed that Kansas City’s medical staff “took an entire quarter to get down to talk to me in the locker room,” calling the delay in treatment “unacceptable” on the show.

“What if I was trying to go back in the game? What if I was really, really hurt? I know mine happened to be moderate, but it still was serious because it’s an eye and your expectation of someone to be down there, as the training staff asked them to be down there, would have had a little bit more urgency,” Van Noy said, noting that the Chiefs organization has received poor feedback for their facilities and player resources in the past.

In an assessment by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) in 2023, the Chiefs received an “F” grade for their quality of care and facilities. Van Noy said he “understands” how the team received such a low grade, “because with my experience, I would have probably, after that, gave them an ‘F’ too,” he explained.

NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell told ESPN that the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement requires medical attention “as soon as possible” when a player sustains an injury during the game.

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“I think this was an unfortunate situation where that did not occur,” Howell said, adding that he’s grateful Van Noy’s injury “wasn’t worse.”

“But here we are with the first game of the season; we got many more games to play. We just can’t have that,” Howell told ESPN.