Both Morgan Frost and Cam Atkinson were healthy scratched without explanation for Thursday night's game against the Blue Jackets.

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella raised eyebrows on Jan. 4 when it was revealed that he had healthy scratched forwards Morgan Frost and Cam Atkinson from the lineup against the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

To make the situation even more dramatic, Tortorella refused to provide any sort of explanation behind his decision. He simply told reporters that the reasoning was "between the athletes and I" and left it at that. 

However, the narrative looked to be taking a positive turn at the Flyers' practice on Jan. 5. Both Frost and Atkinson skated during practice, and Tortorella confirmed that he had spoken to both players about their scratching. 

Frost requested a meeting with Tortorella to voice his own thoughts on getting scratched, which the head coach seemed thoroughly impressed with.

Atkinson also acknowledged the situation, taking full accountability of his actions and insisting that Tortorella's decision was warranted.

Tortorella also gave some insight to his decision to scratch Atkinson, implying that the forward's form was slipping in the leadup to the Blue Jackets game. 

Both Frost and Atkinson are expected to return to the lineup for the Flyers against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 6.