Chargers' Harbaugh briefly exits with arrhythmia

DENVER — After briefly leaving in the first quarter of Sunday’s win against the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters that he has atrial flutter, a type of arrhythmia that causes the heart to beat at an abnormally high rate, and that a flare-up made him seek medical attention.

Harbaugh went to the locker room, where paramedics treated him. He had an electrocardiogram scan, and eventually, they got his heart back to a normal rhythm. Harbaugh returned later in the first quarter and coached the remainder of the game.

He said he has had a flare-up in a game before. He said that in 2012, when he was coaching the San Francisco 49ers in a game against the Chicago Bears on “Monday Night Football,” he felt an irregular heartbeat but finished coaching the game and saw doctors afterward.

Doctors weren’t able to get Harbaugh’s heart back to a regular rhythm, so he had an ablation, which is a procedure that uses heat or cold to destroy heart tissue that is causing an irregular heartbeat. Harbaugh said he also had an ablation in 1999.

“2-0 with an arrhythmia,” Harbaugh joked.

While he was out, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter was the interim head coach, but many players didn’t even know that Harbaugh was absent during the game or that he had an issue with his heart.

Quarterback Justin Herbert found out when a reporter asked him about the situation during his postgame news conference.

“He’s tough,” Herbert said. “He did a really good job of hiding that then because I was unaware of it. They did a good job of keeping calm. I hope he’s OK. Is he all right?”

Harbaugh said he felt discomfort Saturday night but didn’t think much of it. Then during pregame warmups, he realized his heart was beating irregularly, and he eventually notified the training staff in the first quarter. He didn’t say whether he would have another ablation but noted that the timing of his others is on par with having one now.

“I haven’t felt it since 2012,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, it hasn’t happened, but the one in ’99, 13 years later, I had to have the procedure done again, and so I figured I was getting close to the 13-year mark. I was going to need another one at some point.”

Harbaugh’s brother John, coach of the Baltimore Ravens, was in the middle of his news conference after the Ravens’ win over the Washington Commanders but ended it abruptly to check on Jim. Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz reached out to John to let him know that doctors had cleared Jim and he was OK.

The Chargers beat the Broncos 23-16 to improve to 3-2.