Philadelphia Eagles Fire Longtime Medical Staff After Multiple Athletes Suffer Injuries

The Philadelphia Eagles have fired their head physician and internist after the medical professionals have been with the team for nearly 20 years.

Orthopedist Peter DeLuca, the Eagles’ head physician, and internist Gary Dorshimer will not return to the Eagles’ medical staff for the 2018 season, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report on Friday. The news comes after a number of Eagles players dealt with major injuries throughout the 2017-2018 NFL season.

Among those players were quarterback Carson Wentz, left tackle Jason Peters, and running back Darren Sproles, who suffered from torn ACLs during the team’s Super Bowl-winning season. Now the Eagles are reportedly preparing to bring on new doctors from the Rothman Institute.

The doctors were two leaders on the six member Eagles medical staff. While the reason for DeLuca and Dorshimer’s departure is unclear, Inquirer sources said the team was looking to go in “a new direction.”

This is not the first major change taking place in the Eagles’ medical department this week. A new head athletic trainer, Jerome Reid, was brought onto the team this week after Chris Peduzzi resigned earlier this year following a 19-year stint with the team.

Unemployed writer scoop: Some major changes coming on the @Eagles medical staff. Multiple sources tell me Dr. Peter DeLuca (head team physician) & Dr. Gary Dorshimer (team internist),won't be back for the 2018 season. Each was with the franchise for roughly two decades.

— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) June 15, 2018

Earlier this year, New England Patriots wideout Jordan Matthews said he had “two really bad diagnoses” from the Eagles medical staff in a Sirius XM NFL Radio interview, the Buffalo News reported. Matthews said he had knee and ankle damage that wasn’t properly treated until he was traded to the Buffalo Bills last year.

“I think the worst and most frustrating thing about the whole situation was, when I got to Buffalo, I was still dealing with the things that I had to get surgery on,” he said. “But I had two really bad diagnoses on the knee and the ankle, so going into the trade, I thought they were both things that were going to heal on their own. But once I got around Buffalo’s doctors, they got me in touch with the right people and then I got really good feedback.”

Last year, former Eagles linebacker-turned-ESPN-analyst Emmanuel Acho also criticized the team’s medical staff. When the Eagles selected injured cornerback Sidney Jones in the NFL draft last year, Acho spoke negatively about the team’s medical personnel.

“Heck of a player, but he’ll require patience and a good medical staff, which the #Eagles arguably have neither of,” Acho tweeted last year.