The NFL Players Association has weighed in on the situation involving Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy. On Thursday, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell expressed disappointment in what Van Noy called “unprofessional” and delayed treatment of a fractured orbital bone during a game at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Van Noy suffered the injury in the NFL season opener on Sept. 5. The 33-year-old linebacker exited the game after being injured in the second half. He said on the McCoy and Van Noy podcast on Tuesday that it took nearly an entire quarter for the Chiefs’ ophthalmologist to find him.
Howell, who was visiting the Ravens on Thursday, called it “unfortunate” that Van Noy’s treatment was delayed and said that teams need to improve, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
“I think this was an unfortunate situation where that did not occur,” Howell said. “Thank God for Kyle’s situation [that] it 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 also said that quick treatment in an away environment was protected under current collective bargaining agreement.
“We’ve done our investigation,” Howell said. “We’ve made the necessary parties aware of how we’ve got to improve, and I’m sure we will improve.
In Tuesday’s podcast, Van Noy called the conduct of the Chiefs’ medical staff “unprofessional” and “unacceptable.”
“I was disappointed in the way the training staff of the Chiefs handled the situation,” Van Noy said. “You get hurt — especially something that could be serious like mine was — you’re supposed to rely on the team’s training staff or their doctors.”
The situation made Van Noy question whether the medical staff’s slower speed was because he was a member of the opposing team.
“People have that expectation of you being professional, handling business,” Van Noy said. “In a time of need, I wanted that from them, and I felt like I didn’t get it.”
The Chiefs declined to comment to ESPN about Van Noy’s criticism.
It’s not just Van Noy: Chiefs players have also shown dissatisfaction with their athletic training staff, according to the annual internal player surveys put out by the NFLPA. Kansas City, despite being back-to-back Super Bowl champions, has incredibly low scores across multiple areas, including an “F” given for a training staff that is considered the worst in the NFL.
Van Noy is currently on the Ravens’ injury report with the eye injury, but his game status heading into this weekend is still unspecified. Neither he nor Baltimore have provided a recovery timeline for the fracture.