In a surprising turn of events during Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was forced to leave the field due to a health scare. After experiencing an episode of atrial flutter — an arrhythmia that causes the heart to beat rapidly — Harbaugh sought medical attention but returned to coach.
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While defensive coordinator Jesse Minter stepped in as interim head coach, the players remained largely unaware of Harbaugh's condition.
Quarterback Justin Herbert expressed his surprise during the postgame press conference, saying, "He's tough. He did a really good job of hiding that then because I was unaware of it. I hope he's OK. Is he all right?"
Harbaugh had felt some discomfort the night before but brushed it off. It wasn't until pregame warmups that he realized something was amiss. Once he recognized the irregular heartbeat, he alerted the training staff in the first quarter.
"I haven't felt it since 2012," he noted, referring to his past experiences with the condition. Harbaugh has undergone two ablations in his life, one in 1999 and another after a similar incident in 2012.
Despite the heart scare, Harbaugh returned to the sideline, and the Chargers secured a 23-16 victory over the Broncos, improving to 3-2.
After the game, Harbaugh's brother, John, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, cut his press conference short to check on Jim, showing the close-knit nature of the family. Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz reached out to John to reassure him that Jim was fine.
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