When Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh briefly left Sunday’s game because of an irregular heartbeat, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter served as interim head coach. His primary goal: Don’t screw anything up.
Minter had the red challenge flag in his pocket, the authority to call timeouts, and the final decision on what to do on fourth downs. He used that last one when the Chargers faced fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line and he sent in the field goal unit.
“It was third-and 10 in the red zone and I was like, ‘Alright, we’re probably going to end up kicking a field goal here.’ Then we got eight and a half yards,” Minter said, via Chargers.com. “It was like, ‘Just kick the field goal.’ Certainly was not hoping to use the challenge flag or have to make any crazy hard decisions. It worked out well and wanted to certainly get points off the interception.”
Minter seemed to want to err on the side of playing it safe.
“I didn’t want to overthink it. Got the interception, wanted to get points off it, didn’t want to let them have any momentum back. It was about a yard and a half to two. Inside the one would’ve been maybe a little dicier thought there,” he said.
Harbaugh returned to the sideline after briefly getting treatment in the Chargers’ locker room, and he said that he will wear a heart rate monitor for two weeks and take medication but that he should be fine going forward.
