Skip to main content
Advertising

Chargers Official Site | Los Angeles Chargers - chargers.com

5 Takeaways: Harbaugh Provides Heart Update, Recaps Bolts Win Over Broncos

The Chargers Head Coach met with a cardiologist Monday and said he will wear a heart monitor for the next two weeks

JH 5 takes W6

The Chargers were back at The Bolt on Monday following a 23-16 win over the Broncos in Week 6.

Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh held his usual Monday press conference, which lasted nearly 20 minutes and covered a variety of topics.

Here are five takeaways from Harbaugh:

1. Harbaugh health update

The first five-plus minutes of Harbaugh's press conference centered around his own health.

Harbaugh, of course, briefly left the first quarter of Sunday's game with an arrhythmia, otherwise known as an irregular heartbeat, but later returned to the sideline and coached the rest of the game.

Harbaugh on Monday gave an update and said he met with a cardiologist earlier in the day.

"Good, checked out this morning," Harbaugh said. "It's what I thought it was, the atrial flutter, the arrhythmia decided to kick back up so back at it."

Harbaugh later said he has "a real good understanding" of how to treat the issue considering he's had two other episodes in his life.

"Pretty confident on this one that I know what it is and how to deal with it," Harbaugh said. "As always, we'll trust the doctors and they'll tell me what to do."

Going forward, Harbaugh said he will wear a heart monitor for the next two weeks, a device he was already wearing Monday. He has also started taking medicine and noted he may have to get a procedure done but wasn't 100 percent sure of that yet.

"Get a little blood thinner, need that. It's a medicine that doesn't let your heart rate spike," Harbaugh said. "That's the issue I got, it spikes up for a certain amount of time or it goes too low. There's a medicine now that will keep it right in the sweet spot."

Harbaugh said he initially felt the symptoms Saturday before the Chargers flew to Denver as they continued Saturday night and into Sunday afternoon.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said Sunday that Harbaugh mentioned Saturday night that he felt a bit amped up.

"I don't know if I'm really fired up for the game or this is my arrhythmia kicking back in," Harbaugh recalled telling Herbert. "Could be one or the other. Wasn't sure."

Thankfully for Harbaugh and the Bolts, he will monitor the situation for the next two weeks but is in good spirits about things.

And he's thankful for a wide range of support from around the league and elsewhere in the football world.

"Oh yeah, friends and family [reached out]," Harbaugh said. "Really cool, just how many people care. Much appreciated. It's pretty awesome."

Harbaugh said he was also able to connect with his brother, John, who is the Ravens Head Coach, as well as his wife and parents.

But Harbaugh made it clear in only a way he could that he's going to keep coaching the Chargers going forward,

"They know. They know how deeply committed I am," Harbaugh said. "It would take my heart stopping for me not to be out there on the sideline."

2. Bolts showcase depth

As for the Bolts win in Week 6, the strong performance was highlighted by contributions from all throughout the roster.

The Chargers had 21 players in for at least three offensive snaps while 17 defenders were on the field for at least seven snaps.

Harbaugh said a phrase he's used a few times this season, noting that it's better for a player to be prepared for an opportunity that doesn't come rather than being unprepared for when that chance does arrive.

"Guys are realizing that and they're seeing other examples, seeing other guys getting their shot to go in and prove they belong in this great league," Harbaugh said. "Keep chipping away at it. You have to be encouraged by it. I really am by the way guys are stepping up."

Offensively, the Bolts had six offensive linemen played at least 30 snaps due to some reshuffling up front. And with tight end Hayden Hurst playing just seven snaps, Eric Tomlinson (28 snaps) and Stone Smartt (10 snaps) took on bigger roles.

On defense, rookies Cam Hart (all 55 defensive snaps) and Tarheeb Still (50 snaps) stepped up in a big way due to injuries in the secondary. Defensive tackle Teair Tart, who recovered a fumble, tied his season high with 14 snaps.

Harbaugh emphasized the importance of depth, saying that winning teams have to rely on their entire rosters through the course of a long and grueling season.

Through five games, and especially recently, the Bolts have done just that.

"Just reminiscent of some of the really good teams I've had a chance to be a part of," Harbaugh said. "The great ones are when a guy will step in — whether he plays that role early, or the middle of the season or later — and he plays great. He becomes the hero or the reason that you won the game. That's a fact.

"Now, there's sometimes the guy doesn't step up until that role and the team isn't great team," Harbaugh added. "Because it happens every season, every team. When that happens, that's when some real magic happens."

Harbaugh later continued his answer and noted that other depth players on the roster could be getting their chance to shine in the coming weeks.

"You can see it brewing. When that guy steps up, that next man up steps up and plays to his best, sometimes it's as good as the starter," Harbaugh said.

"There's going to be some more opportunities for that to happen, possibly this week," Harbaugh later added. "If not next week, the week after that or the week after that. Guys understand that their opportunity is coming."

Take a look back at the Chargers Week 6 matchup with the Broncos in monochrome!

3. Offense looks crisp

The Chargers offense harped all last week on the importance of eliminating pre-snap penalties.

The Bolts did just that as the offense committed just two infractions Sunday — an offensive pass interference call and a delay of game the Chargers willingly took to better help a punt situation.

Harbaugh on Monday offered high praise for that side of the ball, saying the unit was like a "crisp graham cracker."

"Offensively, I thought it was our best four quarters of football in all the things we were really emphasizing, which was just playing crisper," Harbaugh said. "Sharper, crisper, no pre-snap penalties, no turnovers, very few missed assignments. Really impressive."

The Chargers offense, buoyed by a red-hot first half in which they scored on their first four possessions, put up a season-best 350 yards of offense.

The performance also included a strong day on third downs in which the Chargers converted 11 of 18 tries, their best percentage performance (61.1) of the season.

Perhaps the best conversion came on third-and-8 from the Chargers 41-yard line late in the third quarter.

Denver brought a heavy blitz but Herbert backpedaled before finding Ladd McConkey near the sideline to move the chains.

"Take my hat off for that and the improvement of the offense," Harbaugh summed up about the offense. "Just playing more assignment sound, turnover-free and penalty-free for the most part was huge. Just taking steps. That's what I'm most excited about."

4. Kudos for the defense

The final score Sunday didn't illustrate just how dominant the Chargers defense was in Week 6.

The Bolts ended up allowing 13 points and 228 yards in the fourth quarter in Denver, but the Bolts pitched a shutout and gave up just 88 total yards in the first three quarters.

"So much great play. That was three quarters, you can't play any better defensively than we did," Harbaugh said. "When you get that kind of a lead, you're inviting fourth downs, they're going to go for it every time in a fourth-down situation.

"Those drives become harder to stop. We let the quarterback get out a little bit, got a little loose in finding the route a couple times," Harbaugh added.

Entering Monday Night Football, the Chargers currently rank second in defensive EPA per play (-0.196) and are fourth in success rate allowed (38.1 percent).

"It's undeniable," Harbaugh said. "Defense is doing a great job."

5. Shoutout to J.K. (and JK)

Chargers running back carried the rock 25 times Sunday to set a single-game high for rushing attempts.

Dobbins, whose previously career high was 17 rushes, ran for 96 yards and a score against Denver.

The performance came after fellow running back Gus Edwards was placed on Injured Reserve on Saturday. Dobbins was active along with Hassan Haskins and rookie Kimani Vidal.

"Another great game, a stalwart-type of game," Harbaugh said. "Through these first five weeks, he's been great. [Pass] protection, don't want to let that go unnoticed.

"Everything he's doing in his game … picking up big first downs, converting third-and-2s, picking up first downs on first down with the runs he's making, that was big in the second half," Harbaugh added. "I thought we were able to break out on a few runs there and change field position. That's important in winning a game and the formula in the fourth quarter, the second half, to flip that field position."

Dobbins currently ranks sixth in the NFL with 438 rushing yards and has a trio of touchdowns.

Harbaugh also singled out "the other JK" for his performance against Denver.

"JK Scott, as well, had an incredible game," Harbaugh said.

Scott didn't have to punt in the first half but came up clutch late with a pair of fourth-quarter punts that pinned Denver deep in its own territory.

Early in the fourth quarter, Scott uncorked a punt that bounced at the 1-yard line and rolled out of bounds at the 5.

Later in the game, his punt was downed at the 4-yard line by AJ Finley.

"The hangtime he was getting on the punts and then the ability to kick those in with the backspin, rugby-style, getting them to stop inside the 5, 10-yard line … those are big, big plays in a game," Harbaugh said.

Related Content

From Our Partners

Advertising