Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh will have a cardiac ablation this offseason as well as hip replacement surgery.
“Soon,” Harbaugh said.
During the Chargers’ Week 6 game at the Denver Broncos, Harbaugh, 61, retreated to the locker room and was treated for an irregular heartbeat. Marco Zucconi, the Chargers’ director of player health, wellness and performance, gave the coach an IV and magnesium to treat the condition.
Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter temporarily took over for Harbaugh, who returned in the first quarter to coach the remainder of the game.
After an examination the next day, Harbaugh said: “It would take my heart stopping for me not to be out there on the sideline.”
Harbaugh wore a heart monitor for the next two weeks and was taking a blood-thinning medication and a separate medication to keep his heart rate from spiking or going too low.
The incident marked Harbaugh’s third experience of an atrial flutter, the first of which was in 1999 and the second in 2012.
Harbaugh limped noticeably as he left the field in Houston after the Texans eliminated the Chargers in the AFC wild-card round with a 32-12 victory, his difficulties apparently caused by hip problems.
