NFL says Kyle Van Noy received proper care from Chiefs medical staff after eye injury

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

“It is disappointing that the NFLPA would issue unsubstantiated findings without attempting to understand the facts. We have reviewed the case with the Chiefs and Ravens medical teams and are confident he received appropriate care,” the league said in a statement released Thursday night by spokesman Brian McCarthy.

Van Noy injured his right eye in the third quarter of last week’s NFL opener and said he was “disappointed” with how long it took Chiefs doctors to see him in the locker room after he left the field.

“When you get injured, especially something that could be serious like mine was, you’re supposed to rely on the team’s training staff or their doctors, and I was supposed to see an eye doctor,” Van Noy said Tuesday on his podcast with retired defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. “It took them a whole quarter to come talk to me in the locker room, which is unacceptable to me because then you start thinking, ‘What if I try to get back in the game? What if I’m really, really hurt?’ I know mine was moderate, but it was still serious because it’s an eye and your expectation to see someone there, like the training staff asked them to be there, would have been a little more urgent.”

The Chiefs had no comment on Van Noy’s remarks, which also referred to the organization’s failing grade for its training staff on NFLPA report cards.

NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell, who visited the Ravens Thursday as part of his league tour, told reporters that on-site medical treatment should be provided “as quickly as possible” under the collective bargaining agreement.

“I think it was an unfortunate situation that it didn’t happen,” Howell said. “Thank God for Kyle’s situation, it wasn’t worse. But here we are with the first game of the season; we’ve got a lot of games left to play. We just can’t afford that.”

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AP sports writers Stephen Whyno and Dave Skretta contributed to this report.

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