Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh wearing heart monitor, taking blood thinner after irregular heartbeat

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Leave it to Jim Harbaugh to call an audible when addressing his health.

The Los Angeles Chargers coach wasn’t supposed to do his Monday news conference because he was undergoing medical testing after he experienced an irregular heartbeat during Sunday’s 23-16 win at Denver. Harbaugh, though, got back from his appointment with a cardiologist earlier than planned and decided it would be better to address the subject immediately instead of waiting until Wednesday.

Harbaugh said he is taking steps to address the arrhythmia he has had for many years. That includes wearing a heart monitor for the next two weeks and taking a blood thinner so his heart doesn’t go out of rhythm.

It was a rare amount of detail from the 60-year-old Harbaugh, who can be evasive when it comes to addressing the status of his players. Harbaugh, who is in his first season with the Chargers, often says players are “working through it” when discussing injuries.

“For anybody that could be out there hearing this or if I’m butchering this in any way, I apologize. I’m pretty confident on this one and that I know what it is and how to deal with it. But as always, we’ll trust the doctors to tell me what to do,” Harbaugh said during his 20-minute session on Monday.

The Chargers informed reporters at the team’s complex that Harbaugh would speak two minutes before the news conference began. The team had offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter lined up to take Harbaugh’s place for the regular media availability.

Harbaugh said he’s dealt for many years with atrial flutter, a condition that can cause the heart to beat too quickly.

He had ablation procedures in 1999 and 2012 to treat the irregular heart rhythms and said another one could be a possibility. An ablation procedure uses small burns or freezes heart cells and creates tiny scars in heart tissue, which helps to prevent the heart from producing an irregular rhythm.

When asked if the trip to Denver and being at altitude might have played a role in the arrhythmia, Harbaugh said he was starting to feel it before the team left Southern California on Saturday.

It started to flare up 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 an EKG taken and received an IV and magnesium.

Harbaugh returned to the sideline after the EKG showed his heart had returned to normal rhythm.

Quarterback Justin Herbert said after Sunday’s game that Harbaugh had made some reference about his health Saturday night but didn’t think anything of it.

Most players weren’t aware of what happened to Harbaugh until after the game.

“I knew they were so locked in the game that this is what we wanted them locked in on,” Harbaugh said.

Minter took over head coaching duties while Harbaugh was in the locker room. Harbaugh said it was because the defense was on the field at the time and Roman was in his usual spot in the press box.

It was not the first time Minter has had to step in for Harbaugh. Minter was the interim coach at Michigan last year for the season opener against East Carolina when Harbaugh was suspended due to NCAA violations.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh, who cut short his postgame news conference after a win over Washington when informed of what had happened, wasn’t shocked to see that his younger brother returned to the sideline.

“That’s not surprising. Not at all. He’s never going to let an opportunity like that be wasted,” John Harbaugh said Monday. “I don’t think the doctors really wanted him to go out there, but they had cleared him somehow. Somehow, he convinced them to clear him to go out there and get back out on the field, and he was fine.”

Despite everything that took place, Jim Harbaugh watched the game tape on the plane back to Los Angeles and noted that the first three quarters were the best that his team had played this season. The Chargers jumped out to a 23-0 lead before the Broncos rallied to make it interesting.

“Pretty darn good. You know, crisp, like a crisp graham cracker,” he said.