NFL announces Kyle Van Noy received appropriate treatment from Chiefs physician

Sports News

The linebacker said he was “disappointed” that it took so long for a Chiefs doctor to examine him in the locker room.

The NFL announced that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy received “appropriate” treatment from Kansas City’s medical staff after suffering an eye injury in the team’s season opener last week.

“It is unfortunate that the NFLPA issued an unfounded conclusion without even attempting to understand the facts. We have reviewed this matter with the Chiefs and Ravens medical staffs and are confident he received appropriate treatment,” the league said in a statement Thursday night through spokesman Brian McCarthy.

Van Noy injured his right eye in the third quarter of his NFL opener last week and said he was “disappointed” it took so long for a Chiefs doctor to examine him in the locker room after he left the field.

“When you have an injury, especially one as severe as mine was, you have to rely on your team’s training staff and doctors, but I was supposed to have an eye doctor,” Van Noy said Tuesday on a podcast with retired defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. “It took a full quarter for them to come and talk to me in the locker room, which is unacceptable to me, because then you start thinking, ‘What if I’m trying to get back in the game? What if I’m really badly hurt?’ I know my injury happened to be moderate, but it was still serious because it was my eye, and there should have been a little more urgency if they were expecting someone to be there like they asked the training staff to be there.”

The Chiefs did not comment on Van Noy’s comments, which also mentioned the team’s training staff received failing grades on the NFLPA report card.

NFL Players Association Executive Director Lloyd Howell, who visited the Ravens on Thursday as part of a league tour, told reporters that under the collective bargaining agreement, on-site medical treatment should be provided “as expeditiously as possible.”

“I think it was an unfortunate situation that didn’t happen,” Howell said. “Thank God it wasn’t worse for Kyle, but we’re just off the first game of the season and there are still a lot of games to go. We can’t let that happen.”