Leave it to Jim Harbaugh to make an audible call when talking about health.
The Los Angeles Chargers coach suffered an arrhythmia during Sunday’s 23-16 win over Denver and was undergoing medical tests, so there was no scheduled press conference on Monday. However, Dr. Harbaugh returned from his appointment with the cardiologist earlier than scheduled and decided it would be better to address the problem immediately rather than wait until Wednesday.
Harbaugh said he is taking steps to address his long-standing arrhythmia. That includes wearing a heart monitor for the next two weeks and taking blood thinners to keep his heart rhythm from going out of whack.
The 60-year-old Harbaugh, who tends to shy away from discussing players’ situations, provided more details than ever before. Harbaugh, who is in his first season with the Chargers, often says players are “working through it” when talking about injuries.
“I apologize to anyone who may be listening to this story or if I’m dismantling this in any way. I’m pretty confident about this and I don’t know what it is. , and we think we know how to deal with it. But, as always, we trust our doctors to tell us what to do,” Harbaugh said during Monday’s 20-minute consultation. told inside.
The Chargers told reporters at the team facility that Harbaugh was scheduled to speak two minutes before the press conference began. The team has placed offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter in Harbaugh’s place to make regular media appearances.
Harbaugh said he has long suffered from atrial flutter, a condition in which the heart beats too fast.
He said he had ablation surgeries to treat irregular heart rhythms in 1999 and 2012 and is open to another ablation procedure. Ablation procedures involve creating small scars in the heart tissue by creating small burns or freezing heart cells to prevent the heart from having irregular rhythms.
Asked whether the trip to Denver and the high altitude may have affected his arrhythmia, Harbaugh said he started experiencing an arrhythmia before the team left Southern California on Saturday.
It started burning during pregame warmups. During the first quarter, Harbaugh briefly entered the medical tent before heading to the locker room. While in the locker room, Harbaugh had his pulse and electrocardiogram taken, and was given an IV fluid and magnesium.
Harbaugh returned to the sideline after an electrocardiogram showed his heart had returned to a normal rhythm.
Quarterback Justin Herbert said after Sunday’s game that Harbaugh mentioned his health on Saturday night, but he didn’t think anything of it.
Most players didn’t know what happened to Harbaugh until after the game.
“We knew they were into the game, so this was what we wanted to keep them focused on the game,” Harbaugh said.
Minter took over head coaching duties while Harbaugh was in the locker room. Harbaugh said that’s because the defense was on the field at the time and Roman was in his usual spot in the press box.
This wasn’t the first time Mr. Minter had to fill in for Mr. Harbaugh. Minter served as interim coach for Michigan’s season opener against East Carolina last year when Harbaugh was suspended for an NCAA violation.
Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh cut short his postgame press conference after being told what happened after the win over Washington, but wasn’t shocked to see his brother return to the sideline. .
“It’s not surprising. He’s never going to waste an opportunity like that,” John Harbaugh said Monday. “I think the doctors really didn’t want him to go out. But somehow they cleared him. Somehow he convinced the doctors to go out and get back on the field. . And he was fine.”
Despite everything that happened, Jim Harbaugh watched the game tape on the flight back to Los Angeles and said the first three quarters were the team’s best play of the season. After the Chargers jumped out to a 23-0 lead, the Broncos fought back to make the game interesting.
“It’s pretty good. You know, like crunchy graham crackers,” he said.
Reported by Associated Press.
[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]
Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites to stay informed about games, news and more
