Chiefs Say Ravens’ Kyle Van Noy Had Eye Injury Care in 12 Minutes amid LB’s Criticism

Zach BacharContributor ISeptember 13, 2024

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Kansas City Chiefs vice president for sports medicine and performance Rick Burkholder responded to criticism from Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy regarding the treatment for his fractured orbital bone in Week 1.

Burkholder detailed his experience meeting with Ravens medical personnel after Van Noy went down.

“I asked their physician whether they needed an ophthalmologist,” he said, per ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “They didn’t at the time, they evaluated him and then when they wanted an ophthalmologist, we made the phone call up into the stands and got the ophthalmologist out of the locker room in 12 minutes. So there was a 12-minute time frame when we were alerted to him.”

Van Noy told reporters that he was “disappointed in the way the training staff of the Chiefs handled the situation.”

The 33-year-old also said that it took an entire quarter for an ophthalmologist to meet him in the locker room.

NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell took issue with the way that Van Noy’s injury was handled, calling it an “unfortunate situation” (via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley).

“Thank God for Kyle’s situation [that] it wasn’t worse,” Howell said. “But here we are with the first game of the season, we got many more games to play. We just can’t have that.”

The NFL later criticized the NFLPA for the claim.

“We have reviewed the case with the Chiefs’ and Ravens’ medical staffs and are comfortable he received appropriate care,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a prepared statement, per Hensley.

On Friday, Burkholder explained that the league doesn’t mandate teams to have an ophthalmologist or a dentist in the stands and Kansas City does it as a “courtesy to both teams” (via Teicher). He revealed that he initially went onto the field because he thought that Van Noy might have experienced a head or neck injury.

The Chiefs received a grade of “F” for their training staff in the NFLPA’s team report cards that were released prior to the 2024 season. Van Noy referenced Kansas City’s low grade when discussing his treatment.

“I understand how Kansas City, the players have given that training room an F,” he said, according to SB Nation’s Kyle Phoenix. “Because with my experience, I would have probably gave them an F, too.”

Van Noy did not participate in Baltimore’s practice on Wednesday or Thurdsay, although he was a limited participant on Friday. He’s currently listed as questionable for the Ravens’ Week 2 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.